


Attitude Adjustments

by Ultra



Category: Gilmore Girls
Genre: Alternate Universe, Awkward Conversations, Bad Parenting, Developing Relationship, F/M, Family Drama, Family Issues, Father-Son Relationship, Friendship, High School, Kissing, Mood Swings, Mother-Daughter Relationship, Parent-Child Relationship, Relationship Discussions, Sex, Smoking, Talking, Teen Angst, Teen Romance, Teenage Drama, Teenage Rebellion, Teenagers, Uncle-Nephew Relationship, Virginity
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-04
Updated: 2019-07-01
Packaged: 2019-07-06 23:48:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 35
Words: 87,387
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15896628
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ultra/pseuds/Ultra
Summary: Teenaged Rory Gilmore is a real wild child, and the grandparents she once believed were her parents just can’t take anymore. Looks like Lorelai finally gets the chance to be a real mom at last, but bringing Rory to Stars Hollow could cause more problems than it solves, especially when she might prove to be a bad influence on the town’s favourite teen, all around good guy, Jess Danes.





	1. Chapter 1

Jess put up his hand in a wave and then pulled out of the driveway onto the street. He saw his girlfriend wave back via the rear-view and then watched for a second as she disappeared into her house. It had been cool to see her and catch up after a summer spent mostly apart, but honestly, he really hadn’t missed her all that much.

It was weird because he did care about her. Sometimes, Jess actually thought he loved her, but lately it just wasn’t so much fun anymore. She was getting more distant the last few weeks before school got out, spending way more time with her friends or family, but Jess didn’t really feel the need to complain. He had stuff going on too, plenty of studying to do, helping out at the diner, pitching in with town events, none of which interested Francie at all. They may attend Chilton together and have some of the same friends, but socially, they didn’t have all that much in common when he thought about it too much.

Pulling up at the light, Jess wasn’t really paying attention to the traffic behind him. He took the opportunity to lean forward and turn up the radio. Francie would’ve gone crazy if he had Joey Ramone blasting when she was in the car, but now she was gone, so Jess got to do what he wanted. He was tapping his hands on the wheel to the punk cover of ‘What A Wonderful World.’ Still, the car pulling up beside him with its own radio blasting the same tune certainly got his attention.

Maybe it shouldn’t have been a shock to find a girl driving the next car over, though Jess had to admit he was at least a little surprised. Glancing at the girl in question, he watched her notice him too, pulling her sunglasses up and propping them on the top of her head.

“You have good taste,” she said with a smirk.

“Thanks,” replied Jess, just as the light changed.

With a roar of her engine and a terrific squeal of tyres, the mysterious girl tore off down the street without a care.

Jess didn’t move. He knew he should, but bright blue eyes surrounded by dark make up were burned into his mind, distracting him from reality for too long. A moment later, the car behind honked it’s horn, reminding Jess the light was once again green and that he should be moving already.

With a shake of his head, Jess put the car in gear and headed out of Hartford, home towards Stars Hollow, unable to keep from smiling as he did so.

* * *

“Lorelai? Lorelai!”

It took at least four or five attempts of calling her name and Luke physically shaking her shoulder before Lorelai paid attention. She had been staring, similarly unseeing, at the shelves in Doose’s Market when he found her and no amount of yelling could stir her. Now she was back in the land of living, Luke still wasn’t so sure she was really okay. In fact, she looked awful.

“I don’t know what I’m doing,” she said, a shake in her voice, eyes darting all over the place.

“Uh, shopping?” Luke suggested, glancing down at the wire basket in Lorelai’s hand. “Possibly for a party?” he tried, noting the large variety of sugary snacks she had in there.

Lorelai looked so confused and a little like she might throw up or pass out maybe. Luke really wasn’t sure what to do but whatever kind of ill Lorelai was about to be, it was probably better she didn’t do it in public. It was already dark out and the idea of her taking herself home, either by foot or driving her car, didn’t thrill Luke either.

“Okay, you’re coming with me,” he told her gently, taking the basket from her hand and placing it down in a corner out of harm’s way. “Come on,” he urged her, putting an arm around her back and leading her out of the door.

They went next door to the diner and Luke unlocked, ushering Lorelai inside. She was wandering around like a zombie or something, as if she was sleepwalking. Luke had never seen Lorelai like this, not once, and he didn’t like seeing it now. He wanted to ask what was going on, but he knew they needed one thing before that. Coffee.

Pulling down a chair, he encouraged Lorelai to sit in it and then went and started up the machine to make a fresh batch of coffee. Returning to his friend, he pulled a second chair down off the table and sat opposite her, tentatively reaching for her hand to get her attention and then trying to meet her eyes.

“Lorelai, what is going on?” he asked her then, hoping it was nothing too awful but preparing for the worst given the circumstances. “I’ve known you, what? Six years now? You come in here practically every day, and I have never, ever seen you like this. What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. Everything,” she admitted, with a hint of laughter that sounded more than a little hysterical. “I, er... I really don’t know where to start,” she admitted, free hand pushing her hair back off her forehead and holding it there for a second. “Luke, I have a daughter.”

“You have... Okay,” he said, blinking hard.

It was kind of a lot to process. Six years they had known each other, Luke had just said it. He thought he knew everything there was to know about Lorelai. She was never shy about sharing and they had gotten so close over all that time. Not dating close or anything, but best friends kind of close. Now he was finding out she had a daughter and he never knew.

“I’m so sorry,” she said suddenly. “I feel awful that nobody knows, like I’m ashamed or something, but I’m not. Well, not ashamed of her anyway, she’s great, she’s just... she had to be a secret. That was how it had to be, that was the deal, and I stuck to it. It wasn’t my fault other people couldn’t. Even after that, we kept the secret. It was supposed to be for the best, but now... Luke, I feel like my head is going to explode.”

Luke understood that feeling because he was experiencing something similar right now. He had no idea how to process any of this. He sure as hell didn’t know what to say to make Lorelai feel better, not least because so much of what she just said made no sense to him. The one thing he did know how to do was make coffee, so he did that instead.

Five minutes later, he returned to the table with a large mug of java for his friend who was more than a little obsessed with the stuff, and a smaller cup of the same for himself. He wasn’t much for coffee, but he needed something if he was going to get through this conversation.

“So, you have a daughter,” he said slowly. “How old?”

“Sixteen.”

Luke had taken one single sip of coffee and immediately spat it back into the cup when he heard her answer.

“Sixteen?”

“Seventeen in a few weeks.” Lorelai nodded. “October 8th.”

“But you only turned thirty...” he said, frowning hard, trying to recall the exact date of the event and do the math at the same time.

“I’m thirty-three, so yeah, I was sixteen when I had Rory,” Lorelai told him quickly. “I had no idea what I was going to do. My parents and Christopher’s parents got together and made all the big decisions for me. Mom and Dad would raise my baby as their kid and I’d be ‘Aunt Lorelai,’ who was almost never talked about and seen even less.”

There were tears in her eyes as she explained it and Luke could understand why. Giving up a kid, that was a big deal. Of course, his sister had done something similar, knowing she could never cope in raising her child alone. The situations were shockingly similar actually, except for the fact that Jess had known from the beginning he was being raised by his uncle, whereas Rory clearly hadn’t known the truth, at least not at the start.

“So, now she knows you’re her mother?” he asked carefully.

“She’s known for a while.” Lorelai nodded, setting tears free to roll down her cheeks which she hastily wiped away. “Chris’ parents took him away before Rory was even born. I finished high school, went away to college, then got a job that allowed me to travel and be away from home as much as possible. I wanted to be there for my baby girl, Luke, I really did, but having her not know... it was too hard. It was easier to pretend that what we told her was real, that I was just an aunt,” she cried, breaking down completely for a few moments.

Luke hated to see women cry and Lorelai most especially. He put his arm around her and gently rubbed her back until she found some composure.

“Anyway, Rory’s tenth birthday rolled around. I came home for the celebrations, I couldn’t help myself, and apparently, I wasn’t the only one. Chris showed up, he was in a bad way, I think the latest woman in his life had left him or something, I don’t know. Anyway, he was drunk and he burst in on the party and told Rory the truth. Ten years old and she finds out her whole life is a lie. God, I hated him for that, but it was my fault too, and my parents. We were all to blame.”

“You did what you thought was right at the time,” said Luke kindly.

Lorelai shook her head. “Well, turns out we were wrong. After that, Rory was just... different. This sweet, smart, amazing kid just lost it. My parents sent her to boarding school, to try and straighten her out. She wanted to go, to get away from all of us liars, I guess, but she just... she got so angry at the world, at everything. I can’t blame her but I just feel so horrible that I didn’t fix it sooner. If I just told the truth from the start, if I’d just have been a little older when I got pregnant. I’m so stupid!”

She started all-out crying again, her face held in her hands. Luke wished he knew what to say to make it better, but there really was nothing. Eventually, he thought of one small positive he could mention.

“Well, she can’t still be mad at you if she’s coming to stay, right?”

Lorelai scoffed at that. “She has no choice but to come here. She’s blown through all the decent schools that would take her. The only choice left is Chilton and she’s only getting in there on a favour because my parents are so close with the Principal and his wife. It would mean her moving back home, but you know my dad’s been having heart problems lately. Mom’s afraid having a moody teen in the house full-time, throwing tantrums or whatever, could do more damage. So, now they’ve decided I get to be a mother.”

She smiled when she said it but it wasn’t a happy expression. Luke couldn’t imagine what Lorelai was feeling right now. She seemed to have waited her whole life to be able to raise her daughter and now she was finally getting the chance it was probably at the worst possible time, when Rory’s bad attitude was so deeply embedded, it was unlikely to be reversible.

“I’m too late,” said Lorelai, almost as if she were having the exact same thoughts as Luke.

Regardless of that, he shook his head.

“It’s never too late,” he promised her. “Come on, Lorelai, she’s your daughter. Maybe all that she really needs is to be with her real mom for a while. If she could just understand things from your point of view, you know, really get to know you. It could be great.”

“It could be a disaster.” Lorelai sniffed, reaching into her purse for tissues to clean up her face. “God, I can’t believe I just dropped all this on you.”

“Hey, what are friends for?” asked Luke, jostling her shoulder and giving her a smile. “You know, if you need help, I’m here, and hey, if Rory’s going to Chilton, I’m sure Jess would be fine with showing her around and stuff. He’s a good kid.”

“He is, and thanks, Luke,” said Lorelai gratefully. “I just feel really out of my depth right now. I mean, raising a kid... I never knew how to handle it before, so I didn’t.”

“Well, at practically seventeen, I don’t think Rory needs a whole lot of raising exactly,” Luke considered. “But whatever you need, either of you, I’m here. I’ll do whatever I can. I mean, you were always there when I needed someone. You’ve been great at helping out with Jess these past few years.”

“He’s easy to deal with,” said Lorelai, smiling genuinely as soon as she was done blowing her nose. “You raised a good kid, Luke Danes. I wish I’d been brave enough.”

“Hey, there’s no point beating yourself up about that now,” he reminded her. “I’m not judging you. My sister did more or less the same thing when she gave Jess to me and my dad to raise.”

“But at least Jess always knew what was going on. He’s a Danes but he knows the truth about his father and about how things are with his mom. You raised him like a father but he knows you’re Uncle Luke. Rory called me Aunt Lorelai for ten years before she found out I was her mother, and even now she would never call me mom.”

“Does she... Er, does she still call your parents-”

“Richard and Emily,” Lorelai confirmed. “We’re all first names to her now. No real family ties, that’s our Rory. God, I just... I do not know how we’re going to live together and make it work, but she’s my daughter. I have to try and do what I can.”

“And you will. We all will. You, me, Jess, the crazies in this town.” Luke smiled. “Nutty as they all are here in Stars Hollow, they’re not bad people. They’ll welcome your daughter, they will not judge you, and everything will work out,” he promised, arm around Lorelai’s back still.

“You really are the best friend a girl could ask for,” she told him, letting her head drop onto his shoulder.

Luke didn’t have an answer to that, he never did whenever she referred to him that way. He loved being Lorelai’s friend, he couldn’t really ask for a better one than her either, but sometimes when they got close like this, he hated knowing they would probably never be more than friends. Any hopes he might’ve had sure were being crushed now by the news that Lorelai’s troubled teenage daughter was coming into the picture. This really was going to be an adventure.


	2. Chapter 2

“Jess, you coming down at all?” Luke called, yelling up the stairs.

“In a minute!” his nephew called back.

Luke smiled and shook his head, moving back towards the kitchen to check on dinner. He wasn’t sure when his offering to be there for Lorelai in her time of need had turned into her and her daughter coming over to dinner on Rory’s first night in town, but that was how it had worked out. It wasn’t as if Luke minded at all. If he had, he wouldn’t have made the offer. Lorelai never had learnt to cook, so it just made sense for her to bring Rory to a place where she could get a decent meal and meet some relatively normal people before the crazier denizens of Stars Hollow descended upon her.

The clomp of heavy shoes on the stairs alerted Luke to the fact Jess was on his way down. It seemed only five minutes ago that the kid was born and now he was seventeen, about to start his junior year in high school next week. Turning to look, Luke found a kid that was almost a man standing in the doorway and he sighed.

“What?” asked Jess, frowning some and checking he was properly dressed.

“Nothing.” Luke shook his head. “Just thinking about how time flies.”

“Geez, Uncle Luke, I wasn’t in the bathroom that long.” Jess rolled his eyes.

“I’m not talking about the time it takes you to fix your hair,” said Luke, with an eyeroll of his own. “You grew up, nephew. Seems only yesterday I was bringing you home from the hospital, wondering how the hell me and your grandpa were going to raise you.”

There was a wistful smile on his lips that turned sad in a minute and Jess knew why. He remembered so little of his grandfather who had died when he was just a little kid. Jess was well aware that it was Grandpa William’s idea to have him move into the family home and be raised by the men of the Danes family since Jess’ biological father, Jimmy Mariano, had split the day of his birth and his mother, Liz, had completely gone to pieces.

Liz was just a visiting relative to Jess, barely even that. She floated in and out of their lives whenever she got in a jam or got one of her rare guilty feelings and came around trying to be the doting mother and devoted kid sister to Jess and Luke. It never lasted long and Jess hadn’t seen her at all in the last couple of years. It never mattered much to him because he always had Luke, plus all the crazy townsfolk who had helped raise him from the start.

“So, what do we know about this Rory?” he asked then, watching Luke put on the coffee machine that they barely used themselves.

Lorelai was coming over and that meant coffee was needed.

“She’s Lorelai’s daughter,” said Luke, clearing his throat before continuing. “Er, she had Rory pretty young, so the grandparents raised her a while, then the truth came out and it seems like the kid didn’t handle it well. I guess when you find out your parents are your grandparents and your aunt is your mom it kind of messes with your head.”

“I guess so.” Jess nodded in agreement. “Geez, she really got screwed over. I mean, my parents suck, but at least I knew who they were from the start, and I always had plenty of people looking out for me.”

It pleased Luke to hear him talk like that. It was tough sometimes, playing the father role to a kid who was actually his nephew. It bothered Luke that Jess would grow up resenting him in some way, for keeping him from his real parents or something. Kids could be irrational, after all, but it never happened. The two of them were very much like father and son despite the biology and Jess never really gave Luke much trouble.

He was smart enough to get into Chilton, which wasn’t so tough to pay for with all the money left behind when William died and what the diner brought in on a regular basis. All the neighbours and townsfolk loved him, so Jess probably had more family than any other kid in the state, albeit he wasn’t actually related to anyone in the Hollow but Luke.

“So, I told Lorelai that you would be nice to Rory,” he told his nephew then. “She’s new in town and she’ll be new at Chilton, so she’s gonna need all the friends she can get.”

“What happened at her last school?” asked Jess, stealing a piece of carrot from the chopping board and putting it into his mouth.

“She... had some problems,” said Luke diplomatically, turning to put the vegetables into the stew pot.

Jess was really curious about the new girl in town. It had been a real shock to hear Lorelai had a daughter and how they had never known about her before. It made Jess wonder how much alike Lorelai and Rory would be. Then there was the whole thing where she was suddenly moving to the Hollow and going to Chilton. It made no sense unless there had been some kind of trouble. If there was, either Luke didn’t know what it was or he wasn’t telling Jess. Somehow, Jess had a definite feeling it was the latter of the two.

Luke turned back around, checking his watch as he did so.

“I’m going to go change before they get here. Watch the pots, okay?”

“Sure,” Jess agreed, his wind still wandering.

Lorelai was a mother. That kind of made sense actually, because she had stood in the place of Jess’ mom a few times when he needed her. As much as Jess was not the typical terrible teenager, or so he liked to think, he and Luke had their moments over the last few years. If and when the time came that Jess needed someone to turn to, Lorelai had been there, at least for the last six years. It was weird to think she had a kid of her own who she hadn’t even been there for, though Jess suspected that wasn’t all her fault.

A knock on the front door startled Jess from his thoughts. After checking that nothing on the stove was likely to boil over for the time being, he moved through the house towards the door, only for Luke to come jogging down the stairs, getting just ahead of Jess in the hallway and opening the door instead.

“Hey.” Lorelai grinned from the porch, though the expression looked decidedly forced somehow. “We’re here, at last.”

“You’re not late,” Luke assured her, moving aside and ushering her into the house.

“Really? It feels like we should be,” she said, still with the fake smile in place as she glanced at Jess and rolled her eyes.

He tried not to smirk too much as she came inside and another person followed behind her. They all headed into the living room where there would be more space for introductions, Lorelai and Luke blocking Jess’ view of Rory for too long.

“Okay. So, Luke Danes, Jess Danes,” Lorelai introduced, “this is Rory Gilmore, my daughter.”

When they finally all looked at each other, Jess couldn’t help the gasp that escaped his lips. He knew this girl, or at least, he had seen her before.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Rory,” said Luke politely.

“Yeah, sure,” she replied, barely sparing him a glance as she gave all her attention to Jess. “I know you,” she said, staring hard with kohl rimmed eyes.

“You know Jess?” Lorelai checked. “How is that possible?”

“We’re old friends,” he said, smiling too much, “with a shared love of classic punk.”

Rory smiled at the comment that only made sense to her and Jess smiled back. There was no way he could ever have forgotten those eyes.

“Okay, I’m confused,” said Lorelai, looking to Luke, who obviously had no explanation to give.

“Jess?” he prompted his nephew. “You wanna explain?”

“It’s nothing,” he said, finally tearing his eyes away from Rory and shaking his head. “Er, we passed each other in our cars in Hartford, stopped at the same light, had the same radio station playing.”

“Oh, weird coincidence,” Lorelai noted, pronouncing it like co-inky-dink and causing Rory to roll her eyes.

Luke glanced from Lorelai to Rory to Jess and around again. He was not at all convinced that this night was going to go well, not least because there was some pretty obvious tension going on between the estranged mother and daughter here. At least Rory and Jess seemed to like each other, though it was a little concerning how much they might like each other.

“Okay, so, any chance of coffee?” said Lorelai, looking at him hopefully.

“Sure.” Luke nodded. “Right this way.”

The moment the teens were left alone, Rory let out a huge sigh like she was really relieved to be free at last.

“So, you wanna make a run for it?” she asked Jess, eyes moving over him in a way he had never experienced before, though he didn’t mind much.

“Make a run for it?” he echoed. “Aren’t you here for dinner?”

“I guess I’m supposed to be,” Rory considered, “but if we move fast, we could probably get a pretty long way before they noticed,” she said, tipping her head down the hall towards the kitchen where Luke and Lorelai were.

Jess smiled and shook his head.

“There’s nowhere to go. This is Stars Hollow. Most places worth going are closed at this time of night.”

“Doesn’t mean we can’t make our own fun,” said Rory, shrugging her shoulders. “We’ll find a park bench or a telephone booth or something. We could go hide out in that weird gazebo thing in the town square. Bet nobody would look for us there. Come on, ‘Follow your inner moonlight, don’t hide the madness,’” she urged him.

“You know Ginsberg?” asked Jess, eyes wider at the revelation than they even had been at the suggestion they run out on dinner.

Rory never actually answered the question as Luke came back through to ask if anyone else wanted a drink of some kind. Jess said he would grab himself a soda and get one for Rory too, if she wanted. She agreed, with another heaving sigh. It was clear this was the last place she would ever choose to be, and yet, Jess noted, she didn’t seem to have any problem with the idea of spending time with him tonight. Not that he would go running around town with Rory Gilmore. She was dangerous, he could tell that much already, but that didn’t mean he didn’t like her, that he couldn’t be her friend. After all, Luke had asked him to do that, because it was what Lorelai wanted. There was no way Jess could go letting either them down after everything they had done for him.

* * *

“So, what did you think?” asked Lorelai as she and Rory got into the Jeep to head home.

“About what?” asked her daughter, staring out of the passenger side window.

“About Luke and Jess, about the meal we just had, you know, the whole welcoming event at the Danes’ house,” Lorelai prompted. “Nice guys, right?”

“Sure,” Rory agreed, looking back at the house even as Lorelai pulled off the driveway.

Rory didn’t have much of an opinion on Luke. He seemed like a nice enough guy, she supposed, but he was definitely trying too hard tonight. As for Jess, Rory was intrigued by that guy. He was cute, that much was clear from the first time she saw him, but he seemed to be kind of a goody goody, and that was bound to get old fast. He did know Ginsberg though, which surprised her, and from what Luke said when he started bragging about the wonder of his nephew and how educated and smart he was, Jess sure read a lot. That was one thing they had in common, and apparently music could well be another.

“Luke is just the best,” Lorelai was saying when Rory bothered to listen again. “He’s just a nice guy, you know? There really aren’t many as nice as Luke Danes.”

“If you let me know whenever he’s coming over, I can be out if that helps you,” said Rory, looking over at her.

Lorelai was frowning even as she kept her eyes on the road.

“Why would you go out if Luke came over?”

“So you can do whatever. I don’t want to be the reason your sex life dries up.”

Lorelai slammed on the brakes so hard, Rory thought she was going to fly through the windshield. If not for the seat-belt, she may well have done.

“Ow!” she complained anyway as the belt pulled tight across her chest. “What are you doing?” she asked, unable to see a red light, a person in the street, or anything else that might’ve made Lorelai pull the Jeep up to such a screeching halt.

“I am not sleeping with Luke,” said Lorelai firmly, almost angrily, Rory noticed. “We’re not dating, we’ve never been dating, and we’ve never, ever slept together.”

Rory stared at her birth mother in surprise for a moment and then shook her head.

“Wow. I really thought... well, I guess it’s easy to read people wrong when you don’t know them at all,” she said, honestly more bitter than angry or mean.

That didn’t mean the barb didn’t hit home with Lorelai. She hated that this wasn’t going better. Just a few hours in and she had hoped for civility at least, but Rory was just so angry at her. The problem was, Lorelai couldn’t blame the kid. It seemed she was just going to have to keep on trying and hope things got better. This whole situation certainly wasn’t going to be plain sailing, that was for sure.


	3. Chapter 3

“Wow, you look great!”

It was clear from the look on Rory’s face that she did not believe a single word that Lorelai just said to her. She was wearing her Chilton uniform, some blue plaid, grey sweater monstrosity of an outfit, that was no worse nor better than the others she had to wear at her previous schools, but Rory was definite on the fact that she did not look great.

“We’ve established it fits. Now I’m taking it off,” she said flatly, heading back to her room now the inspection was over.

Rory never expected Lorelai to follow her and sighed when she realised she had.

“You know, I could make adjustments if you want,” she offered, smiling too much.

“I just told you it fits.”

“Yeah, but I was thinking maybe the skirt is a little long. You got my legs, and not to sound fat-headed, but they’re worth showing off a little, right?”

Rory sat on the edge of her bed and pulled her skirt a couple of inches higher. It would look slightly better if it were shorter, she supposed, and Emily certainly wouldn’t ever have let her get away with it.

“Okay, sure,” she said, nodding her head. “Thanks.”

“No problem.” Lorelai smiled. “I’m kind of a whiz with the sewing machine. Just bring it out when you’re changed, I’ll get it done in a jiff.”

“There’s no hurry,” Rory pointed out. “School doesn’t start for another week.”

“That’s right, a little summer vacation still left to enjoy. Is there anything special you wanted to do today?”

She kept on smiling. Rory kind of hated that. She knew it meant Lorelai was trying but it was actually pretty painful to have somebody be so chipper all of the time, especially when it was the fake kind of chipper.

“You don’t have to do the whole mother thing,” she insisted. “I’m sixteen and I’ve been in boarding school for six years. I do know how to take care of myself.”

“I know, but I am your mother, so-”

“I need to change.”

Rory got up from the bed very fast and moved to close the door practically in Lorelai’s face. 

“Oh, okay. Um, you do that. That’s cool,” said Lorelai awkwardly, turning away from the door and busying herself in the kitchen.

It was hard work trying to make nice with a kid she barely knew, even if they were mother and daughter by blood. When Rory was a little kid, Lorelai had stayed away on purpose, allowing her parents to convince her that it was for the best. Later, as Rory herself just said, she was in boarding school, so Lorelai didn’t get that many chances to connect anyway.

Even when the opportunity arose, Rory was not exactly thrilled to know her grandparents or her mother once she found out the truth. Lorelai couldn’t blame her for that, but she had already apologised so many times, it seemed pointless to continue down that road. Better to move forward, that was the deal she and Rory had made, and yet it was a struggle, all of the time, even to find things to talk about that wouldn’t cause a fight.

“Um, you want coffee?” Lorelai called, pouring herself a drink.

“Yes, please,” Rory answered, actually smiling, if only a little bit, as she emerged from her room, Chilton standard-issue plaid skirt in hand.

Lorelai smiled back as she exchanged a mug of coffee for the skirt and took a look at the stitching.

“Yeah, this’ll be a cinch to fix up. I figure there’s some kind of restriction on how short we can go, but I’ll check the handbook and do what I can.”

“Cool, thanks,” said Rory, sitting down at the table with her coffee and taking a long drink.

Lorelai was glad to find they had one thing in common at least, even if it was only caffeine. Of course, Emily was kind of a coffee freak too, in her own way, but Lorelai had to have something that was just her and Rory, so she chose not to think about the connection back to her own mother.

“So, plans for today?” asked Lorelai, sipping her own drink. “I’m free if you wanted to go shopping or-”

“Actually, I think I’m gonna go for a walk,” said Rory, drinking the rest of her coffee down fast and getting up from the table.

“Oh, well, sure.” Lorelai nodded, getting up too. “We could do that.”

“I’d rather go alone, thanks,” said Rory with a tight smile before turning away, grabbing her bag, and heading out. “I’ll see you later.”

She hurried a little more once she was out of Lorelai’s sight, getting out of the front door and slamming it shut behind her. Only then did she breathe again. She really couldn’t handle this whole mother-daughter thing. It was too weird and way too intense.

Not that Rory could think of anywhere else she would rather be than Stars Hollow. At home in Hartford with her grandparents, well, it really didn’t deserve its title of ‘home’ anymore. When she was there, she always felt like an outsider, a spare part, and it hurt all the more because she remembered so vividly how it used to be. When she had a mom and a dad and a life that she loved, a life that was summarily shattered when some guy showed up at the house, in the middle of her very special tenth birthday party and the truth came out. Rory almost wished everybody had just kept on lying too her. Maybe she would have been happier that way.

Shaking her head, Rory set off walking, unsure where she was headed exactly. This town they called Stars Hollow was so strange, full of gossips and weirdos, as far as she could tell. If she had been born and raised here, her life could never have been such a secret because in a few short days she had quickly learnt that everybody knew just everything about everybody else’s business. Still, there had to be some quiet spot where Rory could hide away with a good book and be left alone a while. The house she was now supposed to call home sure wasn’t an option for as long as Lorelai kept on trying too hard, so Rory would just have to find someplace else to go.

Sanctuary came in the form of a tree around back of what seemed to be the local high school. Since it was summer, nobody was around, and Rory sat herself down in the shade of the mighty oak, opening up Madame Bovary and diving back in. She was aware of nothing and no-one when she got lost in a book, as if she were living someone else’s life instead of having to deal with her own. That was how Rory liked it, a not-small part of the time.

Since she lost track of all time and sense of where she was when she was caught up in a book, Rory wasn’t entirely surprised when she next looked up and found a guy sat a few feet away, staring at her like a loon. She hadn’t even noticed him show up.

“Do you want something?” she asked him shortly.

“Hi,” he greeted her, grinning too much.

“Hi,” she echoed back. “I repeat, do you want something?”

“No, I just... You read very intensely,” he told her, still from a few feet away. “I’ve never seen anybody so into a book. It’s amazing.”

“If you’re so thrilled by people reading, you should go sit in a library for a while, it’ll blow your mind,” she told him, turning her eyes back to the page in front of her.

She was barely two sentences from where she left off when a shadow fell over her and the book both. Rory looked up to find the same stranger standing in front of her, seeming almost as tall as the tree she was under.

“I’m Dean, by the way,” he told her, as if she might have asked or even shown the slightest interest, which Rory knew full well she had not. “You’re Lorelai’s daughter, right?”

“Rory,” she supplied, giving up and closing her book. “Word really gets around in this place, huh?”

“Everybody’s pretty friendly, they like to share news.” Dean shrugged, hands shoved in his pockets as he rocked on his heels.

“I’ll bet they do,” Rory nodded, moving to get up. “Well, it’s been just swell to meet you, neighbour,” she told Dean, completely deadpan, as she faked a punch to his shoulder. “Guess I’ll see you at the barn raising.”

She rolled her eyes as she walked away, hoping rather than believing he wouldn’t follow her. It was a real relief when she realised he actually hadn’t bothered. Now, to find another place to hide away and read some more.

* * *

Jess wasn’t really expecting company when he sat down on the bridge over the lake to read. Other people passed by sometimes and said hello but it wasn’t exactly a popular route, which was probably why he liked it so much. As he was now, deep into a favourite book and hardly paying attention to the world around him, it was hardly surprising that Jess didn’t even notice anyone approaching until they were practically on top of him.

“Great minds think alike.”

Her voice startled him but it was no hardship to Jess to look up and see her standing over him.

“Rory,” he said with a smile. “You came here to read too?” he checked, noticing the book in her hands.

“I wasn’t aiming for here exactly,” she said, shrugging her shoulders. “I had a spot but some guy... whatever. I was just trying to find a quiet place.”

“Not too many of those in the Hollow,” said Jess knowingly. “I mean, it’s peaceful, not like a big city or anything, but the people tend to be everywhere and all of the time. Nice as they are, it gets a little much sometimes.”

“Agreed.” Rory sighed, sitting down beside Jess and letting her legs dangle over the edge of the bridge.

She didn’t say anymore, just stared out across the water, looking like she had the weight of the world on her shoulders. Jess started thinking about all the stuff Luke told him about Rory and Lorelai, that whole mess of a situation. Far as he could tell, it was no wonder that Rory supposedly acted out and got mad at people. She may come from money and have everything material she wanted, but her family had all lied to her and her life was kind of a mess, at least for the past six or seven years.

“What is it with guys staring at me today?” she asked, looking at him then.

“I wasn’t-”

“Yes, you were actually,” she told him, though she didn’t look mad like he expected, more amused maybe. “I get it. Teenage boys, hormones, pheromones, whatever. I take Biology, I know the drill.”

“Hey, I wasn’t... I mean, I was just thinking you look like you could use a friend,” said Jess, shaking his head. “That’s all it was.”

“That’s all it was?” asked Rory, smirking some. “Wow. I mean, that’s... sweet, I guess, but I think I should be a little insulted.”

It took Jess a minute to realise what she meant and then he mentally face-palmed.

“I do not believe that you need me to tell you how good you look,” he told her.

“Is this the part where you tell me I’d be beautiful, and even happier, if I just took off all the make-up and believed in myself?” asked Rory, eyes narrowing then. “Because I’ve had two therapists, three school councillors, and a couple of headmasters give me that speech already. Not to mention Emily and Richard.”

She huffed out a sigh and looked away, opening up her book and continuing to read.

Jess wished he knew what he was supposed to say to that. He did think Rory was beautiful, in her own way. She had the most amazing eyes and a great smile, even if she didn’t use it much, but it was more than that. Jess saw something in Rory, something special that he never could explain in a million years. He actually thought maybe all those people who had tried to advise her might’ve been right, that she could be happier if she just let herself. Of course, he could also understand why that might be so hard for her. He glanced from her face, full of concentration, to the book held in her hands and back.

“All I’m saying is,” he told her softly, “if you ever need a friend, you’ve got one here. Okay?”

When she didn’t answer him or even react at all, Jess considered repeating himself. In the end, he thought better of it. After all, she had to have heard him. They were sat all of two feet apart and he hadn’t exactly whispered. If she didn’t want to say anything, that was her choice. Maybe the last thing she needed was to be pushed.

Jess opened up his Hemingway once more and got back to reading. He was half way down the page when he heard Rory softly speak.

“Thanks, Jess,” she said, not even looking up from Madame Bovary as far as Jess could tell.

With a smile on his face, he refocused on his own book.

“You’re welcome, Rory.”


	4. Chapter 4

“Seriously? That’s the outfit you’re wearing to dinner with Emily and Richard?” asked Lorelai, eyes wider than wide.

“That’s what you’re wearing?” Rory countered, looking her mother over.

“What? It’s smart-casual.”

“You look like you’re headed to your own funeral.”

“And apparently you’re expecting Lollapalooza.”

Rory folded her arms across her chest. Lorelai did the same.

“I’m not changing,” said Rory definitely.

“Well, I’m not either,” Lorelai countered. “And I think this means we’re just about as pathetic as each other,” she said, trying for a smile.

She really didn’t want to fight with her daughter and it sure as hell was confusing and oddly endearing to see so much of herself in the way Rory behaved. Not that Lorelai ever dressed quite like that, with the punk-rock edge and the dark make-up, but she never could seem to look exactly as her mother wanted her to and eventually gave up trying on purpose.

“So, are we going?” she asked eventually.

“Apparently. Not that I really understand why,” Rory grumbled.

“Because you want to see them, don’t you?”

“Are you kidding?”

“Usually, yes, but in this case, no, I was being serious.”

“I thought we were going because you wanted to see them. I mean, they’re your parents, right?”

There was a sneer and tone that went with those words. Lorelai let that slide for now, she felt as if she had to, but eventually, that was all going to have to stop. She would only be pushed so far, it just so happened that at the moment, she hadn’t reached that point yet.

“Hold on a second.” Lorelai shook her head. “Emily and Richard told you that you had to come live here and go to Chilton whether you liked it or not.”

“Yes,” Rory agreed with a nod.

“And they told me you had to come live here and go to Chilton whether I liked it or not,” Lorelai continued. “So, why are we doing them a favour by going to their house for dinner? I mean, what do either of us stand to gain except a headache?”

“Real food that a person actually cooked?” Rory shrugged.

“Pah, we can get that from any one of at least five places in town.” Lorelai shrugged right back.

“Then why are we driving all the way to Hartford like idiots if we can just eat here?”

“I have no idea.”

The Gilmore girls stared at each other for a beat both finding an odd smile after a while. They had their reasons for not being close like mother and daughter should, there were maybe a hundred reasons why, but one opinion they shared was that most of this mess was the fault of Emily and Richard, and neither of them especially wanted to spend an evening in their company if they didn’t have to. Apparently, it had now occurred to both of them, simultaneously, that they really didn’t have to, so they wouldn’t.

“I’ll run and get changed, you call Emily and tell her we made other plans.”

“Why me? You’re the ‘responsible adult’,” said Rory air-quoting.

“Because, in a rare motherly moment, ‘I said so,’” Lorelai shot back as she ran up the stairs.

Rory was about to yell something mean back at her and then changed her mind. She didn’t really want to see the grandparents that had at one time been her parents, in name at least, but she wouldn’t hate talking to them. Maybe if she was lucky, she could get Richard instead of Emily. She always liked him better anyway.

Picking up the phone she quickly dialled and was unsurprised to hear some random female voice answer. That would be the next new maid in an awfully long line of them.

“Can I speak to Richard Gilmore please?” she said with a politeness hardly ever heard these days. “It’s Rory.”

There was some clattering and voices before he finally came to the phone.

“Rory, my dear, how are you?”

It was weird how his being nice to her still made a lump grow in her throat. She had such fond memories of the grandfather she had once called Daddy when she was a little girl. When he had his heart attack last year and she thought she might never see him again it almost broke her heart. He was doing better now, and she had reasons to be mad at him still, but she loved him, even if she never said it anymore.

“I’m fine,” she said shortly, swallowing hard. “Er, me and Lorelai, we’re not coming over. I’m sorry but we... we want to spend more time as just us. I mean, that was the plan, right? Coming over there... it’s not going to help anybody.”

“Oh,” said Richard, clearly disappointed, though he rallied considerably well in the next moment. “Well, I think it’s wonderful that you and... and Lorelai want to, um, connect is the correct terminology these days, I think.”

“I guess so.”

“Very well. I trust you’ll both be visiting with us soon, but of course, I quite understand about today in particular, and I’m sure Emily will also.”

“Thanks,” said Rory, too softly. “So, I’m gonna go.”

“Alright. Well, enjoy your evening, my dear.”

“You too. Bye.”

Rory hung up fast, staring at the phone for too long after. She really hated this whole situation. There were times when she wished she had never found out the truth about her life, that she could’ve gone on believing Emily and Richard were her parents and Lorelai was her aunt. She had been so happy then, or so it seemed in her memory.

Of course, another option would’ve been if everyone hadn’t lied their asses off to her from Day One, then maybe she would’ve grown up here with Lorelai, calling her Mom, being the doting daughter. Rory laughed at the very idea which seemed crazy to her mind. Maybe that was what Lorelai thought would happen now, that they’d become the perfect mother-daughter team out of nowhere, as if it had always been that way. Fat chance.

“So, I’m thinking,” Lorelai called as she came back down the stairs, setting her hair free of the clips, “Luke’s would be fine for dinner if you want, but actually-” She stopped talking abruptly when she realised there was no-one there to answer her. “Rory?”

The front door slamming let her know that her daughter was on the way out and apparently not looking for company. Lorelai sighed and sat down heavily on the couch.

“So much for a nice evening of mother-daughter bonding.”

Maybe it had been too much to hope for so soon.

* * *

Jess was starting to wonder why he had ever agreed to go to dinner at Francie’s house. They really had seen next to nothing of each other this summer and he genuinely hadn’t missed her all that much, which seemed wrong. Of course, they had been dating quite a while now and they ran out of things to talk about after the first couple of months. He would break up with her, but it seemed wrong to do it. After all, she hadn’t done anything wrong and they did get along most of the time, when they saw each other.

It helped to have a girlfriend anyway, with all the events at Chilton and everything, it just made it easier always knowing who his date would be. Plus there were certain other advantages for a teenage guy to having a long-term girlfriend, not that Francie had let him get past second yet. Anyway, Jess had a feeling these were probably all the wrong reasons to date a person, and yet he never seriously thought about changing his situation, not even when he had to spend an evening in the company of Francie’s bickering parents.

It was late and he should technically head straight home, but curfew was extended on Friday and Saturday nights, and even further tonight since Luke was aware Jess had no control over how late dinner ran at his girlfriend’s house. That meant there was at least an hour to go before he had to worry about getting home, and Jess happened to know there was some pie left over in the diner, plus he had left his book there. He planned to get in some quiet reading time and eat his fill of leftovers while the going was good. What he didn’t expect was company, but Jess didn’t object to having some when he spotted Rory sitting in the gazebo in the square.

“Hey, neighbour,” he said with a smirk as he climbed the steps towards her.

“Hey,” she greeted him, smiling back, even going so far as to laugh as she looked him over. “Wow. Who died?”

“Ha ha,” he deadpanned. “Y’know you’d feel really bad if somebody actually had died.”

“Maybe.” She shrugged, moving over on the bench so he could sit down. “So, if it’s not a funeral, I can’t imagine court is open this late.”

“I was out to dinner,” he explained, shifting awkwardly beside her. “In Hartford.”

“With Luke?” asked Rory, frowning some.

“With my girlfriend and her parents,” he said, looking everywhere but at her.

“Uh-huh.” 

Jess glanced at Rory when he was sure she had looked away. He couldn’t figure out her reaction from that one sound and he didn’t know why that bothered him. He also didn’t know why he hadn’t mentioned Francie before now. It wasn’t as if he had anything to hide.

“I thought Luke said you were headed to Hartford tonight too,” he said then as the thought suddenly occurred to him.

“Change of plans,” Rory muttered, still looking the other way.

Something had happened, probably a fight between her and Lorelai, or so Jess assumed. He couldn’t imagine why else they wouldn’t have gone to dinner at the Gilmore house in Hartford, or why Rory would be sat out in the gazebo so late at night without so much as a jacket on.

“So, I was gonna go get some pie at the diner. You want?” he asked, watching her until she finally turned to look.

“Cherry?”

“Probably. Might be peach.”

“Peach is good too,” Rory admitted, finding him a half a smile.

Jess smiled back. “Come on,” he urged her, tiling his head towards the diner as he got up to go.

Rory followed behind him, wondering what the hell she was really doing. Sure, Jess seemed like a nice guy, but that didn’t really mean anything. She had known plenty of guys over the years, both nice and not so nice, and she knew how to handle them all. Still, Jess was different. He intrigued her. He was nice but not too nice, like some of the freaks and geeks she had met who couldn’t even smile at a girl without having a seizure. There was no way he was the bad boy type either but somehow, he wasn’t dull. He had good taste in books and music, and pie apparently. Rory couldn’t help but smile as she followed him over to the diner, watching him unlock and then taking a seat at the counter while he put on coffee and served up pie.

“Thanks,” she said, digging into her food with gusto.

“You’re welcome,” Jess told her, taking the next stool over.

He hadn’t meant to stare at her so much but he was finding it difficult now they were somewhere with enough light to clearly see. For all that people should not be judged on their looks, and Jess knew they shouldn’t, it was hard not to notice when someone was as attractive as Rory and dressed to show it.

“So, are you avoiding home too?” she asked, snapping Jess out of his staring.

“Not really,” he told her, focusing on his pie. “I was just hungry and I knew this would be here, plus I left my book under the counter and I wanted to finish,” he admitted, moving to grab said book and show her.

“You really like your Hemingway,” she said, shaking her head. “I could never get into his stuff.”

“You’re kidding?” said Jess, eyes wide. “You can’t get into Hemingway but you’re reading The Fountainhead?”

“It’s a classic.”

“Maybe, but Ayn Rand was a political nut.”

“But no-one can write a forty-page monologue like she can.”

It was still strange to Jess that the same girl who dressed and acted like she had such an attitude problem could then start smiling and waxing lyrical about her favourite books this way. Rory Gilmore was an enigma, even more than most other women, Jess thought. It made her more than a little interesting and made Jess more than a little glad to know her.

“What?” she asked, catching him staring, and not for the first time tonight.

“Nothing,” he said, shaking his head. “Er, if you ever want to give good old Ernest another try, I can lend you a book. The Sun Also Rises, A Farewell to Arms, For Whom The Bell Tolls?”

“What’s your favourite?” she asked, watching him closely with kohl-rimmed eyes then.

“Probably The Old Man and the Sea,” Jess considered.

“Okay.” Rory nodded, closing up her own book that she had open on the counter and holding it out to him. “Let’s make a trade. You try The Fountainhead and I will give the painful Ernest Hemingway another try by reading your favourite.”

Jess stared at her a moment, then took the book from her hands.

“You know, Ernest only has lovely things to say about you,” he told her with a smirk.

Rory smirked right back and then rolled her eyes.

“You’re weird,” she told him, smiling nonetheless as she dug into her pie again.

“Maybe,” Jess agreed, doing the same. “So, you looking forward to school on Monday?”

“Are you trying to find the dumbest question you could ask me? Because I think you got it. I’m not a huge fan of the whole school thing, but I guess Chilton can’t be any worse than the other places I’ve been too. At least I don’t have to live at this one.”

“It’s not so bad,” Jess assured her. “The people are the same as everywhere else, some nice, some not, the usual mix.”

“I’m not really looking to make a whole lot of friends,” Rory admitted, pushing her pie around in the dish. “I just want to get these last two years over with and be done. Eighteen seems like way too far away right now,” she said with a sigh, taking another large bite off her spoon.

“You got big plans for the future?” asked Jess curiously.

“One word - escape,” Rory told him. “Once I’m eighteen, I can more or less do what I want. Some of my money will actually be mine and I won’t be a minor anymore, so all those people who think they want to be my parents can back off and let me live my life,” she explained, getting a little angry as she did so.

Rory belatedly remembered who she was talking to and sighed.

“Yeah, you’re the wrong person to say that too, sorry,” she told Jess. “Lorelai told me about your parents.”

“No big deal.” Jess shrugged. “I’ve always had Luke and lately Lorelai too. I don’t feel like I missed out on anything.”

“You probably didn’t,” Rory agreed, sighing once more. “Anyway, I should go. I kind of left the house without saying where I was going, so Lorelai’s head is probably due to explode any time.”

She was up off the stool before Jess could protest and since she had more or less finished eating her pie and drinking her coffee, he couldn’t really think of an excuse to keep her there. Besides, it really was getting late now and he should be heading home himself before long, unless he wanted Luke to ask a lot of questions.

“Thanks for the pie,” said Rory as she got to the door.

“Thanks for the book,” said Jess. “I can drop Ernest off tomorrow, if you want?”

“Sure. I’ll be around,” she said, sparing him a smile before letting herself out of the diner and walking quickly away across the square.

Jess watched her go until he lost sight of her dark figure against the blackness of the night. She really was like nobody else he ever met, and whether it made sense or not, he really liked that.


	5. Chapter 5

“Hey, Jess. What can we do for you?” Lorelai smiled as she opened the door.

“Nothing, actually. I was just dropping off a book for Rory. She around?”

“She is but she only just got up so there’s a whole clothing optional vibe,” said Lorelai awkwardly. “You wanna come in and wait, or I can pass on the book?”

Jess took a while to answer that question, not least because he now inadvertently had conjured the idea of naked Rory in his head. He immediately felt bad for thinking about that in front of Lorelai, and yet she was the one that prompted the image with the way she phrased the situation. Shaking his head, Jess came back to reality.

“Um, you can take it for her, if you want,” he said, handing over The Old Man and The Sea. “We kind of made a trade last night, or half a trade, I guess,” he explained. “My favourite for hers.”

“Oh, okay.” Lorelai nodded in understanding, looking down at the book in her hand. “So, you and Rory saw each other last night. Is it weird if I ask where?”

“At the diner,” Jess explained. “Well, actually I found her in the square all alone. She looked like she could use a friend and maybe food, so I took her with me to the diner for pie.”

“You’re a good kid, Jess,” said Lorelai, smiling widely. “Last night was... well, one in a long line of awkward moments between me and the namesake. Turns out when you abandon your daughter at a young age, she kind of resents you for it in the teen years.”

Jess shifted uncomfortably on the porch, unsure what to say for the best. The problem was, he really could see this situation from both sides. He had sympathy for Lorelai, getting pregnant so young and being, as far as he could tell, kind of bullied into a situation by her parents. At the same time, Rory had been lied to her whole childhood and couldn’t really be blamed for being mad about it.

“You know, I don’t think Rory hates you or anything,” he said definitely. “She’s just... hurting.”

“I know.” Lorelai sighed heavily. “And I’ve tried to apologise. I’m really, really trying to be a mother, a friend, whatever she wants, but she doesn’t want to let me in. I know I can’t blame her, but... well, I just wish it were easier.”

Jess nodded in understanding. He cared about Lorelai, she had been akin to a mother to him these past six years or so, and she certainly meant more to him than his own, largely absent, biological mother, but he also understood where Rory was coming from. That made this whole thing very awkward.

“I’m so glad she has you, Jess,” said Lorelai then, her hand at his shoulder. “If anybody stands a chance of getting through to her, I think it’s you.”

“Why?” he asked curiously.

“Well, your parents haven’t been around, and yes, I know you’ve always had Luke, but you guys have both had kind of... non-traditional upbringings,” she said politically. “Plus, you’re smart, well-adjusted, you read just about as much as Rory does,” she said, rolling her eyes and smiling. “You’re the kind of friend she needs and I just want you to know how grateful I am that you’re trying to be there for my girl.”

“No problem. I mean, come on, after all the times you helped me out, like I’m going to tell your daughter to get lost when she needs a friend.”

“I repeat, good kid,” she said, patting his shoulder one more time. “What is it with you Danes men, huh? You’re just the best.”

“There’s really nothing wrong with the Gilmore girls either,” said Jess definitely. “Anyway, I should go. If you could tell Rory I’ll see her in school tomorrow. I’m guessing she’s riding in with you?”

“Yes, she is. I get the dubious honour of an introductory meeting with Principal Charleston,” she said with a look.

“He’s not so bad. Just maybe don’t wear any of your bedazzled shirts or your Daisy Dukes and you’ll be fine,” he said with a smirk.

“Really? Because I was thinking of going full on slutty rodeo cowgirl. You don’t think that would go down so well?” she asked, completely deadpan.

“Let me know how that works out for you.” Jess laughed as he turned and walked away.

Lorelai watched him go, calling a cheery ‘goodbye’ and throwing up her free hand in a wave when Jess looked back at her. He really was turning out well for a kid who had been abandoned by both his parents and then lost his grandfather at a young age too. Luke had done a great job raising Jess, but it had to have been tough. Lorelai had tried to help out and hoped her experience in pitching in with the Jess situation might help her now with Rory. So far, no dice.

Heaving a sigh, Lorelai went inside and closed the door. She almost leapt out of her skin when she spotted Rory there, arms folded across her chest.

“Hey, there you are,” she greeted her daughter with a shaky smile. “Jess dropped this off for you,” she said, handing over the book.

“Thanks,” Rory muttered. “He didn’t stay?”

“He didn’t, but he did say he would catch you at school tomorrow.” Lorelai smiled. “Must be good to know you have one built-in school buddy already.”

“I’d do cart wheels but we really don’t have the room,” Rory deadpanned, taking the book to her room.

Lorelai had a feeling that she would shut herself in there and just not come out if she didn’t do something to prevent it. Giving chase, she put herself right in the doorway so that Rory couldn’t possibly close the door. In fact, she didn’t even try, just went and sat down on the edge of the bed, flipping through the pages of The Old Man and The Sea.

“So, last day of freedom before school starts up and I don’t have to be at the inn at all. What do you feel like doing?”

“I’m fine here,” said Rory, pulling her legs up under her lotus style and giving all her attention to Hemingway.

“Oh, well, sure. I know you’re a reader from way back, but I thought maybe you and me could spend some time while we have the chance. You know, a little shopping, or a walk around town maybe. We could go get mani-pedis if you like that kind of thing, or maybe-”

“You don’t know me,” said Rory sharply, cutting Lorelai off before she could go any further. “You say that you want to but you don’t.”

“Rory, I do want to know you. I want to... well, I’d love to be your mother since that’s what I am, but right now, I’d settle for friend, if that’s all you can handle. Just let me try, sweets, please?”

Rory didn’t know what she was supposed to say to that. She had heard almost everything that Lorelai and Jess had said to each other on the doorstep this morning, everything that mattered anyway.

“Are you actually paying him or is it all emotional blackmail?” she asked eventually.

Lorelai frowned and shook her head.

“Excuse me?”

“I’m talking about Jess,” she said, waving his book at Lorelai for added emphasis. “He keeps acting like he wants to be best friends or something. At first, I figured he just liked what he saw, guys are like that most of the time, but then I actually thought maybe... well, I guess I was wrong,” she said bitterly.

“Rory.” Lorelai sighed. “I did not pay Jess to be your friend and I didn’t blackmail him either. I’ll admit, I hoped you guys would get along and I like that you are, but that is all. God, do you really think that little of me? Do you really think that little of Jess?” she tried. “I mean, I know my behaviour hasn’t always been the best but what did Jess ever do but be nice to you?”

She didn’t have an answer for that. The truth was Jess had only been nice to Rory. Not so overly nice that she couldn’t stand it, but a friend of a kind, she supposed, in a way that she hadn’t really had a friend before, at least, not in a lot of years. There were girls she got along with at school, but she wouldn’t really trust most of them as far as she could throw them. When she was younger, there were kids from other highbrow Hartford families that she might’ve called friends, but that was so long ago, she would hardly know them now and was damn sure they wouldn’t get along even if she did. That said, she was bound to run into a few at Chilton when she started there tomorrow, and Rory wasn’t looking forward to that at all.

The truth was, Jess really had been as much of a good friend as Rory had had in a long time and she supposed Lorelai was doing her best too. Rory just wasn’t very good at accepting people being nice to her. A part of her was always waiting for it to go wrong, for the lies to be revealed, for the joke to be on her. She hated that feeling but it just wouldn’t ever go away. She wondered if it ever could.

“I really don’t want to go out,” she said eventually, eyes on the book still though she really wasn’t trying to read at all. “You have nail polish here?” she asked, eyes drifting to her finger nails.

“I do.” Lorelai nodded the moment Rory looked up at her. “Every colour you can think of, I have it.”

“Black?” Rory checked, smirking just a little.

“Actually, yes, from last Halloween,” said Lorelai smartly. “Although we should probably consult the Chilton handbook before we go too crazy.”

“They won’t see my toes, right?” Rory called behind her, even as Lorelai went in search of said handbook.

“That is true. There we can definitely go crazy,” she said happily, glad to have found anything at all to share with daughter, even if it was just nail polish. “I’m thinking maybe some real harlot-style red?”

“That could work.” Rory nodded, smiling just a little as she got up from her bed and headed out of her room.

Lorelai tried not to sigh too loudly with relief. She and Rory might just be connecting, if only a little bit. It was a start and she would take what she could get right now. Tomorrow, the first day at Chilton, that was bound to be a whole other drama to contend with, especially if Emily and Richard decided to show up!

* * *

“Hey, you’re back fast,” said Luke when Jess came back into the diner barely a half hour after he left. “I thought you were going to see Rory.”

“I was just dropping off the book. Lorelai said she only just got out of bed so I left it with her.”

“Oh, okay.” Luke nodded, concentrating on the ketchup bottles he was refilling.

They always opened on a Sunday morning, but tended not to be all that busy. There were the usual regulars, maybe a few tourists passing through in the summer, but that was all. It gave Luke and Jess a chance to catch up on things like refilling the condiments, straightening up the store room, and giving the kitchen an extra clean sometimes. Luke had expected to be handling things alone for at least the morning, but apparently not.

“I think Lorelai wants to spend some time with Rory before school starts up tomorrow,” said Jess, coming around the counter and helping himself to a doughnut.

“You think they’re getting along better now?” asked Luke.

Jess shrugged his shoulders, chewing and swallowing a mouthful of greasy, sugary goodness.

“I think Lorelai’s trying,” he admitted, “and maybe Rory’s not so much yet, but can you blame her?”

“I guess not,” Luke considered. “Y’know, it makes me real happy about the way you turned out. When I think about how things might’ve been... well, you’re a good kid, Jess, and I’m proud of you, you know that, right?”

“Geez, it’s like the Jess Danes Appreciation Society today,” he said, rolling his eyes. “I just had the same kind of speech from Lorelai.”

It wasn’t that he didn’t appreciate the compliment, as the smile on his face probably proved, but Jess was just a little uncomfortable with everyone telling him how great he was. It was a little weird. Of course, he knew that Uncle Luke was proud of him and that Lorelai appreciated him too. They ought to know that he only turned out so well because of them, though that was probably as awkward for him to say as all this praise was for Jess to hear.

“You don’t need me right now, do you?” he asked Luke then. “I have one more book I’m supposed to finish for school tomorrow and I should probably check I have all my stuff in my bag and everything.”

“You go get everything straight and come back later if you have the time,” said Luke definitely. “School is a priority, you know this.”

“I know this.” Jess nodded his agreement. “Thanks, Luke,” he said, with a smile before he turned to go.

Luke had a feeling his nephew was thanking him for more than just letting him cut out on work this morning and he didn’t mind that at all. It was crazy when Luke thought about the way their lives might’ve been. If Liz had decided to try and raise Jess herself, if Jimmy had stuck around, even if William hadn’t passed as soon as he had.

Luke couldn’t really say he had any regrets. Of course, he wished his own father was still around, but that was something nobody could control. There was no doubt in Luke’s mind that his raising Jess the way he had was the right choice. He only wished Lorelai and Rory could’ve figured something out sooner so things were better between them. Hopefully, given time, they could find a way to at least be friends, if not exactly mother and daughter, and if Luke or Jess could help in any way, they absolutely would.


	6. Chapter 6

Jess Danes had been attending Chilton Prep for two years and it hadn’t taken long for him to fall into the rhythm of the place. He never really made friends as such, though there were plenty of people he did get along with. Being the guy from out of town that didn’t have a trust fund or a house that could easily be a hotel, some of the rich kids tended to look down on him for his lack of blue blood, and those that didn’t found other reasons not to like him all that much, like the fact he was usually the smartest person in any given room. Of course, it was mostly his fellow guys that had a problem with Jess, something that was amplified by the fact that the girls tended to like him a lot.

It was still kind of a mystery to Jess why Francie had first shown an interest in him, but at the time, he had just been flattered and glad to have anybody paying attention to him in a good way for a change. He couldn’t say she was the love of his life exactly, though he cared about her. Honestly, it would seem so weird these days to not be with her. That said, the idea of meeting up with her on the first day of school didn’t give him butterflies in the stomach or anything, not like way back in the beginning when he at least felt a little bit like that about her. If anything, he was almost too distracted by thoughts of this being Rory’s first day to even recall that he was supposed to meet Francie by the lockers. It was why he turned up there late to find his girlfriend waiting with a face like thunder.

“Jess!” she called, painting on a smile when she saw him.

He knew it was fake and that later she would probably be mad at him, but in front of her friends, Francie always liked to put on a good show. Jess was used to it by now.

“Hey,” he greeted her with a kiss. “I’m sorry, I got held up.”

“No problem, you’re here now,” she said, looping her arm through his. “I was just telling the girls what I heard about a transfer student starting in our grade today. She’s already caused quite the stir and that’s before anybody has even met her.”

Jess winced at those words, knowing they had to be talking about Rory. The chances of their being two new girls becoming Juniors today was remote, and if anyone was going to be a big source of gossip amongst the student population, it would be Rory.

“Actually, I have met her,” he explained. “She, er... she lives in Stars Hollow.”

“She comes from your town?” asked Ivy, who usually acted as Francie’s spokesperson with everyone but Jess.

“Actually, she comes from Hartford originally,” he told her. “I thought maybe you girls would know her from before. Rory Gilmore?”

“You’re kidding!” Lemon gasped. “Rory Gilmore is coming here? I remember her from grade school, though she left after fourth. Some people said she went to boarding school because of her bad behaviour, others were telling tales about her family, like her parents weren’t really her parents or something.”

“Adoption is hardly a tragedy.” Francie rolled her eyes. “Our housekeeper adopted her children and they’re well-adjusted, as far as help goes anyway.”

“Francie,” said Jess with a look.

“What did I say?” she asked, acting the innocent, though Jess rarely believed that look she wore. “Anyway, I heard this new girl was named Lorelai, but I guess it could be the same person.”

“It is.” Jess confirmed. “Rory is short for Lorelai.”

He stopped short from saying she was named after her mother. It seemed Lemon and the rest of The Puffs would probably be spreading all kinds of rumours about Rory before the day was out without him adding to them.

This whole situation was guaranteed to be messy and Jess would love to stay right out of it. The trouble was, there was no way Francie would allow a stranger into their grade without a full investigation so she knew what she could potentially be up against, be it academically or socially, plus Jess had promised to be there for Rory. Of course, he didn’t have to be her best friend or anything, but if he were honest with himself, he liked Rory enough to genuinely want to be her friend, and not just make nice because Lorelai and Luke asked him to.

The bell rang overhead and Jess leaned in to kiss Francie’s cheek.

“I gotta go,” he told her. “See you at lunch.”

“Probably,” she agreed, grabbing a hold of his jacket when he tried to get away and making a big deal about kissing him deeply until the girls looking on all squealed and sighed simultaneously. “Have a good first day, lover.”

“You too,” said Jess, turning to walk away.

He went around the corner towards his first class and immediately spotted Rory at the other end of the hallway. She looked a little lost and a lot uncomfortable. Though the door to English was only three paces from him, Jess hurried right on by to get to Rory.

“Hey,” he greeted her with what he hoped was a friendly smile. “You okay?”

“Fine,” she said shortly, staring down at her schedule in one hand and then a map in the other. “Also lost, but that could be okay too. I mean, do I really want to get to English with a guy named Mr Medina?” she asked, making a face.

“I think you probably do,” Jess told her, smiling still. “Mr Medina is actually cool. He assigns a lot of reading but it’s usually decent stuff. Not exactly Hemingway or Rand, but nothing too painful.”

Rory nodded her understanding and followed Jess as he headed back the way he came. They got to the door of the classroom and he stepped back, ushering her in ahead of him. There were a few students already in their seats and a few more standing together talking for as long as possible before they were made to be seated. Jess tried not to notice that they all looked at him and Rory and started whispering frantically behind their hands.

“Wow. Doesn’t anybody have anything better to talk about than the new kid?” said Rory, moving towards a seat in back.

“I guess not.” Jess sighed, following her.

He usually sat more towards the middle of the room, but given that Rory could probably really use the support right now, he was happy to go where she went. It wasn’t as if he had a problem reading the board or needed a lot of attention from the teacher, so he could sit anywhere and not worry about it.

Jess was pulling his notepad and pencil out of his bag and didn’t even notice Rory sharing nasty looks with a girl much closer to the front, at least not until she mentioned it.

“Is that your girlfriend?”

He looked up fast at the question, unsure who he was going to see but already knowing the answer must be no. After all, Francie wasn’t in this class and she was the only girl he ever dated here at Chilton.

“Seriously?” he said, giving Rory a look when he saw who she was staring at.

“She’s giving me the serious stink eye,” she noted. “I figured it was because she thought I was Jolening you.”

“First off, a Dolly Parton reference? Really?” he said, smirking just the same. “And second, that is Paris Geller. She is nobody’s girlfriend, last I heard, but she is borderline psychotic about this place. Basically, she thinks she should be top of the tree at all times, and I have a nasty habit of pushing her off,” he said with a further self-satisfied smirk.

“Huh,” said Rory, looking thoughtful a moment.

In a second she was back to making eye contact with Paris, adding a little evil to the glare after a while. It didn’t take much effort with the black makeup around those ice blue eyes, though she seemed to be wearing a little less of the stuff than usual. Jess figured Headmaster Charleston had put his foot down on the make up situation and it was just about the one thing Rory would have to comply with.

The staring contest of Gilmore vs. Geller continued a few moments more and Jess had a feeling Rory was about to flip Paris off or similar when suddenly Mr Medina came in and called for order.

“I remember her,” said Rory in a low voice. “Not the face but the name. Paris Geller,” she repeated with a final glare at the girl in question before Paris finally turned to face the front at Mr Medina’s insistence.

Jess tried to keep the smirk off his face but it didn’t come easy. He really wasn’t looking forward to any kind of confrontation that might yet occur between Rory and Francie, but between Rory and Paris? That might just be fun.

* * *

After first period, Jess and Rory parted ways, she having confirmed to him that Mr Medina was ‘okay’ and that maybe English class at least wouldn’t be ‘too torturous’ for as long as she was at Chilton. Jess took that as a minor victory and said he would see her later, planning to catch up with her at lunch if he could.

As he headed to the cafeteria later on, Jess realised how strange it was that he was looking forward to seeing Rory and had almost completely forgotten that he was ever supposed to meet up with Francie, for the second time that day. Before he could give the subject too much thought, someone stepped out into his path, blocking his route to the cafeteria door.

“Spill it, Danes,” said Paris sharply, arms folded across her chest.

“And a cheery hello to you too, Paris.”

“Don’t play dumb, it doesn’t suit you. What is Gilmore doing here?”

“She goes here now because her family said so. If you need any more information than that, I suggest you try asking Rory and not me,” he said, side-stepping her.

As usual, Paris anticipated and matched his movements, still not letting him escape.

“I used to know her, you know? Before she got shipped off to boarding school. She liked to play nice back then, Miss Goody Two Shoes, but she was already scheming to take my place as top of the class.”

“You’re cracked.” Jess rolled his eyes. “Rory does not want to be here. I highly doubt she cares enough to try to beat you out for valedictorian or school paper editor or whatever else you have your heart set on, Paris. So, take a deep breath, step out of my personal space, and stop trying to make everything about you.”

This time when he moved to go around her he made it, but not without getting a suggestive wink out of Louise for his trouble. Honestly, Jess knew she was hot but he wouldn’t touch her with somebody else’s ten-foot pole. She really was the Chilton bicycle - pretty much every guy around had ridden her.

Heading into the cafeteria, at last, Jess scanned the tables for Rory. He spotted her in the far corner, by herself, nose deep in a book. With a smile, he headed straight for her table, only to hesitate when he saw someone else approaching from the other direction. Steeling himself, he kept walking. While Rory definitely could take care of herself, Jess still wasn’t about to leave her alone with the likes of him.

* * *

“Hi.”

Rory looked up half expecting to see Jess and got a surprise when it wasn’t him in front of her. She didn’t feel the need to ask who the guy actually was or what he wanted. She figured if he wanted her to know, he would tell her.

“So, you’re the new girl, but actually, I’m pretty sure we’ve met before.”

“It’s possible,” Rory told him. “Doesn’t mean I have to care about it.”

Someone else appeared by the seat next to hers then and this time when she looked she did find Jess there.

“This guy bothering you,” he asked, tilting his head towards the stranger.

“So far, not really.” Rory shrugged easily. “Who is he?”

“Tristan DuGrey,” said the guy himself, before Jess could give some other name or unflattering descriptor. “And you’re Lorelai Gilmore, right?”

“Wow. Give the guy a coconut,” Rory dead-panned. “You know my name, big deal.”

“I know your family too. My grandfather speaks very highly of... well, shall we just say Richard Gilmore,” he said with a smirk.

Rory tried not to wince at those words. Tristan knew the truth. Chances were good he was either at her tenth birthday party or knew somebody who was. Quite honestly, she had blocked out a lot of that particularly traumatic day and recalled very little of who was there or what was said beyond the devastating truth that shattered her world. At ten, she had cried like her heart would break for days on end. At seventeen, she was stronger and she would show no weakness to Tristan or anybody else.

“Are you standing there for a purpose or just waiting for the wind to change?” she asked him, shaking her head.

“Ooh, touchy,” said Tristan, smiling too much. “You know, I came over here to welcome you to our school, to let you know that if you need a helping hand with anything, I’ve got two right here,” he said with a look not dissimilar to a leer.

“She doesn’t need your help, DuGrey,” Jess snapped, finally gaining the other guys attention.

“Easy, Danes,” he said, hands raised in mock surrender. “She can have more than one friend. Besides, aren’t you still dating Francine Jarvis? That might explain why she’s not looking too happy with you right now,” he said the, pointing over Jess’ shoulder to The Puffs table.

Rory and Jess both looked back there to see Francie glaring at them all, but most especially Rory.

“Leave me alone,” she said then, to no avail. “Jess, just go!” she tried again more loudly.

“Me?” he asked as he turned to look at her, one hand on his chest. “You’re kidding.”

“Go. I don’t need your help either,” she said sharply, turning back to her sandwich and her book.

It was hurtful and mean to act that way and Rory knew it. Jess really didn’t deserve her to be that way with him, but at the same time, she really didn’t need him blaming her when his girlfriend dumped him for talking to her either. She felt him walk away, determined not to look at all. Still a shadow remained over the table. Apparently, Tristan wasn’t going anywhere.

“Are you still here?” she asked without looking up at all.

“You really are as vicious as they’re saying, aren’t you?” he said, taking the seat directly in front of her. “Doesn’t scare me, you know? In fact, I kind of like it.”

Rory looked up at him with wide eyes and at least a little amusement.

“Come on, you have no idea how boring it is when girls just throw themselves at you all the time.” Tristan sighed. “I like a challenge.”

“I’m a challenge?” asked Rory, meeting his eyes, as determined not to back down as he was.

“Aren’t you?” he countered, leaning in closer, never breaking eye contact. “I think you being here just made Junior year a whole lot more interesting, Blue Eyes,” he told her with a winning smile.

She laughed at that, she couldn’t help it, and the moment broke along with her resolve.

“I’ll see you around, Lorelai Gilmore,” said Tristan then, getting up from his seat and moving to go now that his point had been made.

“Rory,” she called behind him. “Nobody calls me Lorelai anymore. It’s Rory.”

“Rory,” he repeated, nodding. “Then I’ll see you around, Rory,” he told her as he walked away.

She was smiling as she watched him go but managed to rein in the expression after a few seconds more. Her eyes went back to her book but she barely read one whole paragraph before laughter from a table far behind her got her attention. Rory caught sight of Jess, crouched down by his girlfriend’s seat, presumably making excuses for not going straight to her side the moment she snapped her fingers.

“I like a challenge too,” she muttered to herself, before going back to reading. “So, bring it on.”


	7. Chapter 7

Lorelai was surprised by how weirdly gung ho Rory seemed to be about Chilton. She said her first day was ‘fine’ and wasn’t really prepared to elaborate further, but she was up bright and early the next day practically chomping at the bit to get to school. She wondered if it had to do with the car provided by Richard and Emily, but Lorelai wasn’t sure it could be just that. The same pattern of behaviour continued all through the first week, and every night, Rory holed up in her room to study like a perfect student should.

“I’m not complaining, not even a little,” Lorelai told Luke in a low voice, mindful of eavesdropping neighbours, “but I did not expect that kind of commitment, not after the way she was at her other schools and how anti-education she seemed to be.”

“Well, maybe being here really is doing her some good.” Luke shrugged as he added more coffee to Lorelai’s cup.

“Maybe,” she agreed, nodding her head. “I think Jess is a good influence on her. I mean, he’s such a good kid and he does so well at Chilton. I think maybe Rory is trying to be that way, you know, to fit in with him?”

“I don’t know. When I asked how things were going, he said he hasn’t seen much of Rory in school... or out of school, actually. He offered to help her with homework and catching up but she said she had it covered.”

“Oh.” Lorelai was surprised by that and it showed. “Well, she is a smart kid when she tries, so maybe she has a handle on it. It’s weird they’re not hanging out at Chilton though. I mean, he’s the only person there she knows, except for a few kids she might remember from before, but I highly doubt there’s any love lost there, you know?”

Jess chose that moment in the conversation to come in through the diner door.

“Hey,” he called to Luke. “I’m done helping Miss Patty with the chairs, so I’m headed home to finish my English paper. Do I need to take food from here or is there still lasagne in the freezer?”

“There’s lasagne, if you want it,” Luke told him, “but Jess, hold on a second, come here,” he said, gesturing for him to do just that. “You and Rory, you said you don’t see much of each other in school, right?”

“Right,” he said, barely looking at Lorelai at all, which immediately made her suspicious. “We have a couple of classes together but that’s all.”

“I guess you see each other at lunch though, right? And between classes, in the halls maybe?”

“Not much.” Jess shook his head, one hand rubbing the back of his neck. “Can I go now?”

“Jess, please,” Lorelai urged him. “If something is wrong, then I need to know,” she told him, her hand on his arm, turning him until he looked at her.

“Lorelai, it’s really not up to me to tell tales on Rory. Please, don’t make me do that.”

“Jess, nobody’s asking you to tell tales,” Luke told him definitely. “But if Rory is getting herself into trouble then I’d like to think that you cared enough about her, and about Lorelai, to tell us what is going on.”

Jess rolled his eyes and sighed heavily. He so did not want to get into this and for so many reasons. He meant what he said, tattling on Rory did not sit well with him, but it was more than that. Having to admit to the scenes he had been witnessing lately would make them so much more real and that gave him a sick feeling he had yet to reconcile with himself.

“None of the girls like her too much,” he said eventually, “but she’s not hanging out alone. She seems pretty buddy-buddy with Tristan DuGrey,” he admitted, practically spitting out the name he disliked so much. “Can I go now?”

“You can go,” Luke told him, patting him on the shoulder. “Thanks.”

“No problem,” he told his uncle, nodding once before he turned to go.

When Luke returned his attention to Lorelai, he really wasn’t sure what to make of the expression on her face. He was about to ask her what was up when she told him anyway.

“DuGrey,” she said, making it sound as if the name tasted as bitter on her tongue as it had when Jess said it. “I don’t think I like that kid.”

“You _know_ that kid?” Luke checked. “I mean, lately?”

“No, not lately,” Lorelai admitted, “but when he and Rory were little they knew each other. He always came across perfectly well-behaved, but he had that look in his eye.”

“What look?”

“Like he was just waiting to Saran-wrap your toilet or superglue your purse to the chair. I don’t think I would’ve trusted him as far as I could throw him. Besides, his father was always a little too friendly with the ladies, if you know what I mean.”

“Delightful family,” Luke dead-panned. “Well, maybe the kid grew up into a better teen. It happens.”

“Sure,” Lorelai considered, though she didn’t look convinced, “but, as much as I hate to say it, Rory isn’t exactly drawn to better teens these days. If he’s as much trouble now as he seemed to be back then?” Lorelai groaned and put her face in her hands a few moments. “He is not the kind of person I want Rory hanging out with, but if I tell her that, she’s going to spend even more time with him, because hey, that’s what I would’ve done at her age. Hell, it’s what I did do, and then a year later, along came Rory.”

Luke wished he knew what to say to make her feel better, but there wasn’t much he could find that was genuinely comforting and not insulting to either Lorelai or Rory. All he could do was try to be supportive and offer the help of the only other person they knew at Chilton.

“Look, I’m sure it’ll be fine, but if it’d make you feel better, I’ll talk to Jess again,” he said, leaning over the counter close to Lorelai so he didn’t have to raise his voice and be heard by the whole place. “Maybe he can try a little harder to stick by Rory, or even convince this Tristan to leave her alone.”

“I don’t want to make Jess’ life any more difficult than it has to be. Chilton is a tough enough school and I know he struggles with being the outsider even now. The last thing I want to do is screw things up for him.”

“Hey, he’ll survive,” said Luke definitely. “You have done a lot for him and he can pay you back a little by helping you feel better about Rory and Chilton.”

“You’re a good man, Luke Danes.” Lorelai smiled then. “You and that nephew of yours, you’re kind of amazing.”

“What are friends for?” he said, shrugging his shoulders.

Lorelai had a feeling that if he were the type to blush he probably would right now, which was equal parts amusing and adorable, words not often applied to Luke Danes. He really was a lot nicer and sweeter than he would really want people to know, that was for sure.

* * *

“So, you want to get lunch together?” Jess asked Rory as they got up to leave history class. He wondered, at first, why she wasn’t answering but then he looked over and caught sight of the expression on her face. “What?”

“You want to get lunch with me?” she checked. “Instead of your girlfriend?”

“You can’t join me and Francie?”

“I doubt it, unless I want my eyes scratched out,” said Rory, adjusting her bag on her shoulder. “Don’t worry about it, Jess. I’m a big girl, I can eat lunch by myself... or with other people, if I want to,” she said with a look before pushing past him and out of the door.

It would make Jess’ life so much easier to just let her walk away but he couldn’t. As if it wasn’t bugging him enough to see Rory hanging around with Tristan DuGrey so much, now he had Luke’s voice in his ear too, reminding him how much he owed Lorelai. She was worried about Rory, she didn’t want her daughter getting close to DuGrey any more than Jess did, which meant he had to follow Rory and try again to convince her she was being a fool.

“Rory!” he called, giving chase down the hallway.

“Geez, what is wrong with you today?” she asked as soon as he reached her side. “You wanna start singing ‘Me and My Shadow’ already? We may as well, you’re everywhere I look.”

“And that’s a problem for you? I thought we were friends,” said Jess, shrugging like it was no big deal to him.

“I thought we were people who happen to live in the same town,” she countered, stopping walking not far from the cafeteria doors. “What do you want, Jess?” she tried again, sure there had to be something more significant than his desperation to eat at the same table as her.

In fact, Rory had a feeling she knew exactly what his problem was. He didn’t like her hanging out with Tristan. Those guys really didn’t get along and Rory could tell why. Though he never came out and said it, it was clear to her that Tristan disliked Jess for being smarter than he was. That and the fact Jess was not the traditional blue blood legacy that inhabited the halls of Chilton. As for why Jess didn’t like Tristan, well, Rory would like to think a large part of that had to do with her. Not that that meant she was prepared to let Jess tell her who she could and could not hang out with. That was just not happening.

“Look, Tristan DuGrey is an ass,” said Jess then. “Everybody knows it. He changes girlfriends more often than he changes his socks, and if not for that overzealous charm of his, he’d have been kicked out of this place a long time ago for not keeping up with the work.”

“Are you done?” asked Rory, folding her arms across her chest, watching as Jess nodded a confirmation. “Okay, first, I don’t care what Tristan does with other girls. Not that it’s any of your business, but we’re not dating. Second, I hang out with him around school sometimes. Whether he does is homework or not? Not of interest. So, now can I go get some lunch?”

She turned towards the cafeteria before Jess had a chance to answer. Her hand was on the door when he finally spoke again.

“You know your mom’s worried about you.”

Rory winced at the sound of those words and for more than one reason. So much for thinking she might be making Jess jealous. This was all about Lorelai, and apparently, there had been talk behind Rory’s back that she really wasn’t thrilled to hear about.

“Go sit with your girlfriend, Jess,” said Rory shortly. “I’m not her.”

* * *

“Hey, sweets,” Lorelai greeted Rory the moment she came in the door. “How was school today?”

The smirk that came over her daughter’s face was almost a little scary. Lorelai wasn’t sure what to make of it until finally Rory spoke.

“Thanks for the tail, by the way,” she said sharply. “You know if you want to know what’s going on with me, you could try asking, instead of sending Jess in with his binoculars and decoder ring. God, it was so embarrassing having him corner me in the halls and grill me on who I’m hanging out with, because you know, my mother wouldn’t like it,” she said, in a voice that was really nothing like Jess’ at all.

“Oh, Rory, I didn’t-”

“Yes, you did,” she interrupted, throwing her bag into the armchair. “What is it you think I’m getting into at school? Bad company? News flash, Lorelai, I _am_ bad company. It’s why I was sent here in the first place, right?”

“Rory!” she called after her, giving chase as she went towards her bedroom. “Come on, please. Do not be this way,” she urged her, grabbing the door when Rory tried to slam it between them. “You are here because you’re my daughter and because I want you here and... and I didn’t mean to have Jess spy on you exactly. I was just worried.”

“Why?” asked Rory immediately, yelling from her side of the threshold. “What has made you worry so much about me? I’ve never even told you who I’m hanging out with at Chilton and yet somehow you seem to know all about it. Information from that spy that you don’t have?” she asked with a look.

Lorelai’s mouth worked with no sound coming out for a while, and then she sighed.

“Okay, fine,” she said, rubbing her forehead with one hand. “I asked Jess how things were going with you, because as much as you tell me to ask you directly, kid, I gotta tell you, you’re not exactly forthcoming with the details.”

“Why do you want to know? Why are you suddenly so interested in my life?” Rory countered. “God, you spent the first ten years pretending you weren’t even my mother, and then the seven after that hardly seeing me at all, and now suddenly you expect me to share every tiny detail?”

“Rory, please,” Lorelai urged her, but it seemed her daughter wasn’t done.

“I don’t need you to be my mommy,” she continued angrily. “I didn’t ask for it and I don’t want it, so please, just leave me alone. All of you, leave me alone!” 

Lorelai winced as Rory finally got the door in her grasp and slammed it shut hard. She wanted to just barge in there and counter everything her daughter just said, but she couldn’t. There was no way for her to tell Rory she was wrong, because she was absolutely right, on every point, and as angry as the poor kid was, Lorelai had noticed the tears building in Rory’s eyes too. She was hurt more than anything, and like it or not, a lot of that was Lorelai’s fault.

“You’re right,” she called through the door. “You know, I really haven’t been a good mom to you yet, or a mom at all, actually,” she agreed sadly, “but I’m here now, and I’m trying, Rory. I mean, I’m really trying. Now, you can hate me and fight against me and... and I can’t stop you. I even get why you feel this way, I really do, but please, honey, could you please just try to understand that, no matter what, I love you. I really, really love you, and I only want what’s best for you. It’s all I ever wanted, and you don’t have to believe that, but it’s true. I care, and so does Jess and Luke. We want you to be okay, that’s all we’re trying to do here. So, that’s all I can say right now,” she admitted, knowing the tears were going to take over and her voice would fail any second. “Just holler if you need anything, okay?”

She turned and walked away then, leaving her daughter alone as she requested.

Beyond the door, Rory was sitting on the floor with her face in her hands, trying not to make any sound, as she cried like her heart would break.


	8. Chapter 8

Lorelai wasn’t sure what to expect when she got up the next morning and went down to make breakfast. Rory had only come out of her room a couple of times the night before after their pretty nasty confrontation, once to grab her book bag and a drink, and then on another occasion to go to the bathroom. She spoke very shortly, confirming she wasn’t hungry and that she was ‘fine.’ She definitely was not fine, that much Lorelai knew, not least because she recognised the signs of crying profusely through a whole bunch of makeup and then trying to cover for it with more of the same.

Taking a deep breath, Lorelai walked down the stairs and into the kitchen, thinking she was ready for whatever faced her. She got a real shock when she found Rory already there, pouring fresh coffee into two mugs.

“Hey. You made coffee.”

“Looks that way,” Rory agreed, putting the pot back on the counter and crossing to the toaster, just as two Pop Tarts emerged. “You want this, right?” she checked, offering one to her mom.

“If the Pope is still a Catholic.” Lorelai nodded and smiled, taking the Pop Tart gratefully. “Thanks.”

“No problem.”

They sat down on opposite sides of the table and ate in silence for a while. Lorelai wanted to ask if Rory was feeling better, and maybe apologise some more for the blow out last night, but she was afraid of making things bad again.

She had no idea that Rory was having the same internal fight, unsure if mentioning the argument and smoothing things over was necessary, or if they could just pretend it never happened and move on.

In the end, it got the better of Lorelai and she just had to say something.

“Look, kid, I know life has not been happy fun time for you, and a lot of that is down to me.”

“Not just you,” Rory told her without looking up at all.

“Well, thanks for noticing that, but I’m still a lot responsible for what happens with you because, like it or not, I am your mother. Now, I think it’s fairly well-established that time travel is, at this point in time and space, an impossibility outside of fiction, therefore, I have no earthly way of going back and changing how things have been with us. Same goes for you,” she said all in a rush, as Gilmore girls tended to. “So, how about this? How about we draw a line, right here and now, and start over.”

“Start over how?” Rory asked, glancing at Lorelai. “You want me to go back to calling you Aunt Lorelai?”

“Obviously not.” Lorelai rolled her eyes. “Let’s just agree that I’ve done wrong and you’ve done wrong, that neither one of us is perfect, but that we’d like to get along and try to be friends. Can we agree on that?”

“I guess so,” Rory agreed eventually, slowly nodding her head. “It’s gotta be better than fighting all the time.”

“Agreed,” said Lorelai, trying not to let out too large of a sigh, a result of the great relief she felt in that moment. “It would also be really cool if you could believe me when I tell you that if Jess wants to be your friend, that is all on him. I said it would be nice if he could look out for you a little bit, but honestly, Rory, I do think he genuinely likes you... you know, as a friend,” she added quickly, just in case.

After all, Jess had a girlfriend, and though Lorelai had never met Francie, she was not about to suggest that Rory would make a better girlfriend for Jess than her. It was really none of her business at all.

“He’s not a bad guy,” Rory conceded. “I don’t get the whole love of Hemingway thing but other than that,” she said with a smirk she couldn’t help.

“Yeah, he does have big old Ernest love going on. I never got it either. Of course, I’m not really a bookworm like the two of you.”

“He’s trying to read _The Fountainhead_ because I like it,” she said, shaking her head. “I don’t know how far he got. Probably about as far as I got with his Hemingway,” she said, making a face.

“Well, you could always ask him when you see him in school today,” Lorelai suggested. “Not that I’m saying he’s the only person you should hang out with, not what I meant,” she added quickly, seeing the scowl that appeared on her daughter’s face. “Just, if you wanted to talk to him, you have a topic.”

Rory nodded, nibbling at her Pop Tart, looking unenthusiastic still.

“You know, I love a good Pop Tart,” Lorelai told her, “and I appreciate you made an effort here, but I’d be willing to spring for breakfast at Luke’s if you wanted. It is Danish day after all,” she said with a winning smile.

“I could eat a Danish,” Rory agreed, almost managing a similar look as she got up to go fetch her shoes and school bag.

Lorelai cleaned up in the kitchen and was ready to go when Rory was. They met at the front door and Rory opened it to leave, hovering on the porch a moment and blocking Lorelai’s way out. Just when Lorelai was going to ask her what’s up, she told her anyway.

“I don’t hate you,” she said, without preamble and hardly looking at her mom at all. “I just thought you should know that.”

She moved so quickly to get into the passenger side of the Jeep then that she was practically a blur. Lorelai blinked in surprise at her words and her hasty movement then bit her lip a moment as she felt tears coming out of nowhere.

“Thanks, kid,” she muttered more to herself than to Rory since there was no way she could hear from there, and then she followed her to the car.

They didn’t talk on the way to the diner, just listened to the radio in strangely comfortable silence all the way into town. Rory was first out of the car when they arrived and went inside, selecting a seat at the counter before Lorelai had a chance to catch up.

“Hey, Flo Jo, how strong was that coffee you made this morning?” her mom asked, dropping onto the stool beside her. “You order yet?”

“I hadn’t quite gotten a chance to ask what she wanted,” said Luke, looking between them. “What’ll it be, ladies?”

“I don’t know about Rory but I’m not so hungry this morning” said Lorelai, shaking her head. “So, just bacon, egg, sausage, pancakes, and all the coffee you can find should cut it, plus a Danish to take out for later.”

Rory snorted out a laugh at the order but when she saw the smirk on Lorelai’s face she couldn’t help but take it as a challenge and ask for the same.

“Coming right up,” Luke told them, moving back into the kitchen to get their food. “Jess, two coffees!” he called to his nephew as he went.

“I’m on it,” he replied, setting two large cups in front of the Gilmore girls and filling them up.

“Hey,” Rory greeted him with a smile.

“Hey,” he replied, though he didn’t look quite so cheery about it.

Lorelai glanced between the two of them and sighed.

“Uh, excuse me, kids. I just need a word with Miss Patty,” she said, sliding from her stool and hurrying to the far corner of the diner where the dance teacher was sat.

Rory knew what she was doing and while she ought to be mad about being left alone with Jess by design so she could fix things with him, she was actually kind of glad to be given the chance too. It was easier to get along with him in Stars Hollow than it ever was at Chilton where there were far too many variables to consider.

“So, how goes _The Fountainhead_?” she asked, trying to catch Jess’ eye but he seemed determined not to look up as he rearranged just about everything on the counter as he cleaned around it with a cloth.

“Fine,” he answered shortly. “I can get my own copy if you need it back.”

“I don’t,” she told him, shaking her head, even though he couldn’t see because he wouldn’t look at her. “Unless you need your Hemingway back?”

“It’s fine, keep it until you’re done,” Jess told her.

“Okay.”

“Okay.”

“Jess, this is stupid.”

“What’s stupid?” he countered, finally meeting her eyes. “You were the one that said we’re just people who live in the same town. I thought we were friends, but hey, I figure if that’s not what you want, it’s an easy fix. I’ll just stop being friendly.”

“That’s not what I want,” she said, catching his arm when he moved to walk away. “I know you’re trying to be my friend, I just... I’m not good with friends,” she said, eyes moving from her own fingers clutching his sleeve up to his eyes. “If you hadn’t noticed, I’m kind of the anti-social type.”

“Really? You don’t say?” Jess dead-panned, unable to hold a smirk in for very long.

“So, are we cool?” Rory checked then, finally letting go of him and retracting her hands very deliberately to her side of the counter.

“We’re cool,” Jess agreed, nodding his head.

The two were sharing quite the moment when Luke came walking out with plates of breakfast and stepped all over it. Lorelai returned to the counter at the sight and smell of bacon and the girls dug into their food without pause. When they were almost done, Jess returned to refill their coffee cups.

“Are you headed into Hartford together this morning?” he asked, glancing between them.

“Nope, I’m inn-bound,” Lorelai explained. “Oh, but I should drop you back at home before I go because you need your car for school,” she said to Rory as the thought occurred to her.

“Actually, I was going to say, I could give you a ride,” Jess told his newly-established friend. “Seems kind of stupid to take two cars when we’re both headed to the same place at the same time.”

“That does seem stupid,” Rory agreed with a smile. “Thanks, Jess.”

“No problem, Rory,” he told her, returning the look.

Five minutes later, they left together and Lorelai was grinning as she watched them go, chatting away and actually smiling too.

“That is a sight I like seeing,” she told Luke. “They’re friends again.”

“Yeah, I thought something had happened yesterday, but Jess wasn’t talking last night.” Luke shook his head. “Kids, huh?”

“Yeah, kids,” Lorelai agreed. “I think I’m making progress with Rory, you know? Get this, on the way out to the car this morning, she said she did not hate me.”

“Wow, that’s... great?” Luke tried, unsure if he had picked the right word.

Lorelai rolled her eyes. “I know, it’s not exactly undying love and devotion, but it’s progress, Luke, it really is. She has reasons enough to hate me, but she doesn’t. That’s hopeful, and I’ll take it, for now.”

* * *

Rory really thought she was going to have a good day. There hadn’t been many in her life lately, but today seemed like a real candidate for the role. She had made her peace with Lorelai and then with Jess, gotten a really great breakfast at Luke’s, and the first class of the day was English with Mr Medina which she actually liked. There was a Danish stashed in her bag for later and all the coffee she got through this morning had given a good old-fashioned caffeine buzz that didn’t seem ready to give up yet. Things were looking up, Rory actually almost felt what might be described as happy about life, and then Paris happened.

It wasn’t as if Rory could say she had done nothing to provoke the attack. She knew when Mr Medina called on her this morning and she gave not just the correct answer, but a particularly clever one, that Geller was pissed about it. She wanted to be top of every class, the golden girl of Chilton, no doubt valedictorian next year too. Rory didn’t care much who got that particular accolade, but it was just too much fun to make Paris turn colours so easily in class.

Three times after that, when Paris raised her hand to give an answer, Rory made a point of raising hers too. She almost never volunteered, even though she knew what to say every time, so Mr Medina called on her, presumably to encourage her to keep on participating. That made Paris seethe, but what worked even better was countering every opinion she gave on the text with a well-thought-out, perfectly unarguable response.

Rory was good at debating literature and she wiped the floor with Paris today. It didn’t hurt that she was amusing Jess into the bargain. He spent all of class trying not to laugh as Paris turned red, white, and puce in that order. Who knew school could be so much fun when you actually participated? Rory sure didn’t.

It was lunch time when Paris caught up to her, storming over the second she cleared the cafeteria doors, with eyes like thunder and two bimbettes flanking her.

“I don’t know who you think you are, Gilmore, but if you don’t learn to keep your mouth shut in Medina’s class, I swear to God you’re going to regret it.”

“Ooh, things just got interesting,” said Francie to Lem, settling down in her chair to watch the fireworks, even as Jess tried to move from her side and intervene. “Not so fast, lover. This isn’t your fight,” she told her boyfriend definitely, her hand on his arm to keep him from diving in.

Jess knew she had a point and that Rory probably wouldn’t appreciate him getting involved anyway, but that didn’t mean he had to like what was probably about to happen.

“If you can’t keep up, Paris, that’s not my problem,” Rory told her smartly. “What’s the matter, afraid of a little healthy competition?”

“The day you are competition for me will be the day that Satan skates to work,” said Paris, just as smartly. “You may have some intelligence, you couldn’t be here if you didn’t, but the better woman will always come out on top, and not just in class,” she said, eyes flitting briefly to Rory’s left.

She wasn’t sure what Paris meant by that comment at first, but turning her head slightly, she realised that Tristan had come through the doors at some point and was hovering by her side, watching the show. Come to think of it, Rory had noticed Paris glaring at her more in the halls than even in English class lately, but she hadn’t put it together until now that almost every time it happened, Tristan was there too.

“Am I missing all the fun?” he asked then, catching Rory’s eye.

“No,” she said, glancing at first Paris then over at Jess and Francie who were practically sitting in each other’s laps. “The fun just got here,” she said then, whipping her head back towards Tristan and reaching for him before he had a chance to protest.

Not that he was really likely to want to argue as Rory grabbed him by the blazer lapels and pulled him to her, crashing her lips against his own.


	9. Chapter 9

Luke wasn’t sure what to think when Jess finally came home, slamming the front door, throwing his bag into the living room and then pelting up the stairs with a thunderous sound. He was a teenager, so obviously there were times when Jess had his moodier moments, but for the most part, he was a fairly happy, well-adjusted kid. Luke was proud of that fact, especially given how Liz used to be at the same age.

“Jess?” he called up the stairs. “Hey, buddy, you okay?”

There was a long enough silence in which no answer came, that Luke had his foot on the bottom step and was preparing to yell again when he finally heard Jess’ voice.

“I’m fine!” he told him, sounding anything but. “I’ll be down in a minute.”

“Oh, good,” Luke muttered to himself. “Something to look forward to,” he dead-panned, heading back to the kitchen where dinner was waiting to be served.

It was a couple of minutes later, just when the food was finally on the plates, that Jess appeared, wearing his ‘normal’ clothes, still fastening the buttons on his shirt.

“So, what’s with the mood tonight?” asked Luke as they headed for the table.

“It’s nothing,” Jess insisted.

“Nothing made you this mad?”

“I’m not mad, I’m just... Rory’s an idiot.”

Luke’s eyes went a little wide at that remark, though he never did get a chance to ask Jess what exactly he meant by that, never mind admonish him for being so rude about a friend.

“Y’know I tried to warn her about DuGrey, and I know Lorelai did too, but does she listen? Of course not,” he said crossly, spearing vegetables onto his fork with a little too much force. “He’s going to get her into trouble, or just use her, or both. I thought she was smarter than that.”

He was shoving food into his mouth by then which stopped him saying any more. Luke was actually glad of the pause so he could process what he had heard so far. One particular phrase that Jess used had stuck in his mind and wouldn’t shift.

“When you say ‘get her into trouble’ you mean...?” he asked carefully.

“Aww, geez. Not like that.” Jess rolled his eyes. “C’mon, she’s not that stupid.”

Right after he said it, he and Luke shared a look and they both winced. He had pretty much just implied that Lorelai was dumb given how Rory came to be in the world in the first place. He hadn’t meant it that way, of course, and since they both knew it, it didn’t seem worth discussing any further.

“I just don’t know why Rory wants to be with him,” said Jess then, heaving a sigh as all the fight went out of his body.

He continued to eat but at a more sedate pace, which was probably a good thing, Luke thought. Still, he wasn’t happy. Mad wasn’t fun, but sad was worse, and somehow Luke had a feeling that this wasn’t just about Rory getting in with the wrong crowd.

“I’m sure Rory knows what she’s doing,” he said gently. “She’s not exactly... Well, I get the feeling she knows how to handle herself.”

Luke didn’t know how else to explain what he meant without saying things he really was not comfortable saying. He wasn’t especially comfortable even thinking about Rory’s probable status as a non-virgin, even though it was what he meant.

“It’s just of all guys, why him? DuGrey is such an ass. He does not deserve her.”

Luke took a sip of water and cleared his throat twice before he managed to speak again. This was going to be awkward, he just knew it.

“You know, Jess, Rory is... well, she’s free to date whoever she wants,” he said carefully, mindful of causing another explosion of anger from his nephew. “I mean, it’s different for you, you have a girlfriend.”

“Are you kidding me?” asked Jess, fork clattering against the plate as it slipped from his hand. “Seriously, Luke, that has nothing to do with this.”

“It doesn’t?”

“No,” Jess insisted with a look. “Me and Rory, we’re friends. Good friends don’t want to see their friends get hurt by idiots,” he said pointedly.

“That’s true.” Luke nodded. “I’m sorry if I misunderstood,” he said, before going back to his food.

He watched out of the corner of his eye as Jess picked up his fork again and went back to eating also. That was good, it meant he had accepted Luke’s apology, even if he hadn’t entirely meant it. Luke had raised Jess from a baby, nobody knew the kid better than him, and he just knew there was more to this whole thing than Jess wanting to be Rory’s friend.

“So, things with you and Francie are good?” he asked, careful not to put a tone on the question at all.

“We’re fine.” Jess nodded, eyes never leaving his plate as he continued to eat.

“That’s good,” said Luke. “And I’m sure Rory will be fine too. Best thing you can do is let her do whatever she wants to do, and just be there for her if it doesn’t go so well later.”

Jess didn’t really answer that, just carried on eating and not really looking at Luke. That couldn’t be a good sign, but as far as Luke could tell, there really wasn’t much he could do about it, at least not yet.

* * *

“So, anything interesting happen in school today?” asked Lorelai as she and Rory dug into Chinese take-out.

“Not really,” said Rory, though the smirk she wore suggested that was a lie. “We started _Romeo and Juliet_ in English, which is pretty yawn worthy, and I’m fine with math, history, and chemistry. No real problems to report.”

“Well, that’s cool.” Lorelai nodded. “So, that covers classes, anything else causing any issues?”

“Are you asking me if the other kids are playing nice with me?” asked Rory, one eyebrow raised.

“Maybe.” Lorelai shrugged. “Maybe I’m asking if you’re playing nice with them,” she said, eyes fixed in the container full of noodles.

Rory rolled her eyes. “Some of the girls don’t like me much, but that’s not new. There’s this one girl, Paris Geller, who thinks she’s a shoo-in for valedictorian next year. Far as I can tell, she thinks she has a right to be top of the class at everything. It kind of kills her that I participate in English.”

“Which makes it worth your while to have your hand in the air all of the time,” said Lorelai knowingly, wearing a smile she just couldn’t help.

“Got it in one,” Rory agreed. “She has a thing for Tristan too.”

“Tristan,” Lorelai echoed, swallowing hard. “You and he are buddies now, huh?”

“Kind of,” said Rory, side eyeing her mother. “That a problem?”

“Why would it be a problem?” said Lorelai, practically laughing at the very idea, though the sound that came out of her was forced and strained. “You’re making friends and I think that’s great. Of course, it’s great. Friends are just great.”

“Uh-huh.” Rory nodded. “Well, then that’s just... great,” she said pointedly, hiding a smirk in the next forkful of food.

Conversation pretty much dried up from there on out, all attention going to the TV, even though nothing very interesting was on. It was tough to come up with things to say to each other that wouldn’t cause a fight and both the Gilmore girls were feeling the pressure.

Once Rory had her fill of Chinese she made the excuse of homework and went to her room. Not that she planned on studying. She had done more than enough to get by today, she just needed to not be sat in a room with a person she couldn’t talk to.

Seeking solace in a book, as she so often had before, Rory smiled as she picked up Jess’ Hemingway from her desk and thumbed the pages. She read more of his notes in the margins than the actual text, because it was way more interesting. Still, for a guy who knew so much about literature, he really didn’t know that much about women.

Rory almost laughed out loud picturing Jess’ face in the cafeteria today when a teacher finally parted her from Tristan, babbling about inappropriate public displays of affection. Rory barely heard a word. She was pleased to know she had royally pissed off Paris and that she had made Jess more than a little green around the edges too. That was mission accomplished as far as Miss Gilmore was concerned, at least for now. The show wasn’t over yet.

There was a buzzing sound as her cell phone hopped along the desk. Rory reached for it and her smile was back when she saw who was calling.

“Hey,” she greeted him, keeping her voice low. “You missing me already?”

“Actually, I thought you’d probably be missing me,” Tristan told her smoothly. “Any chance of you breaking free of your small-town prison tonight?”

“Depends what you had planned” said Rory, switching the phone to her other ear as she checked the catches on her window.

It would make way too much noise if she tried to sneak out that way and Lorelai would just lose it big time if she came into Rory’s room later and found it empty. She was going to need a Plan B.

Fifteen minutes later, Rory had changed her clothes, covered her chosen outfit with a coat and fixed her makeup before heading out. She passed through the living room and headed for the front door, breezily telling Lorelai not to wait up.

“Hey, hold on just a second,” her mother said, rushing after her. “I know I’m trying to be the cool mom and everything, but I do need to know where you’re going and with whom?”

“Oh my God.” Rory sighed and rolled her eyes. “I’m going over to Jess’ house to ask him about a homework assignment,” she insisted. “I thought you liked me hanging out with him.”

“I did. I do. It’s fine,” said Lorelai, shaking her head. “If that’s where you’re headed then that’s cool.”

“Great,” said Rory with a look before heading on out of the front door.

She was as good as her word and headed straight to the Danes’ house. After all, this wasn’t her first rodeo. She told Lorelai where she was going and so she would go there, at least for five minutes, so she had a decent alibi.

“Rory,” said Luke as he opened the door to her knock. “Can I help you with something?”

“Is Jess home... please?” she said, with a polite afterthought.

“Sure. You want to come in?”

“No, I’m fine,” Rory told him, taking a seat on the porch rail.

Luke stared at her a moment then nodded. “Okay then,” he said, more or less to himself, calling for Jess.

He came wandering out a minute later, clearly surprised to see Rory waiting for him.

“Hi.”

“Hi,” she replied, moving over so he could sit down beside her.

Jess only hesitated for a minute before he did it.

“So, you’re here because...?”

“Homework question,” said Rory, turning to look at him and finding him much closer than she expected. “Uh, Mr Medina wanted how many words for this week’s paper?”

“Two thousand,” Jess told her, frowning some. “That was why you came over?”

“Pretty much.” Rory nodded, still a little distracted by how very easy it would be to push forward just an inch or two and make something happen.

“Just that one dumb question? Nothing else.”

“Nothing else. Unless you can think of anything else you might wanna do?”

The way that she said it was deliberate, Jess was sure, and he had a hundred answers he could give to her question, none of which could really end well. After all, he had a girlfriend, and not so many hours ago, Rory was all over Tristan DuGrey like a rash. The very thought of that moment sobered him up very fast and he got up from the porch rail, putting distance between them.

“I have homework to finish,” he said, shoving his hands in his pockets. “Don’t you?”

“Not right now,” said Rory, shaking her head as she got up too and headed down the steps.

Jess watched her turn to the right instead of the left. That wasn’t the way home and he was pretty sure she knew that. As much as he thought he knew what Rory had intended when she came over tonight, now he wasn’t so sure.

“Where are you headed?” he called behind her.

“Nowhere you’d want to know about,” she yelled back without even turning around.

Jess considered things for a moment, glanced back at his own front door then hurried down to the gate.

“Hey, Rory?” he called, finally getting her full attention.

“What?” she asked from a few paces down the sidewalk.

There was a moment’s hesitation before Jess gave an answer;

“Be careful.”

Rory’s scowling face broke into an almost dangerous smile before she started backing up down the pavement away from him.

“But where would be the fun in that?”


	10. Chapter 10

The rumour mill was in full swing by the time Jess got to school the next morning and the names on everybody’s lips were a little too familiar to him. It really didn’t bother him at all if DuGrey was getting himself into trouble, that was almost normal these days, but the Gilmore name was getting dragged into it too, and that wasn’t okay.

“Ivy said she could hear Headmaster Charleston yelling at Tristan from all the way down the hall. Duncan and Bowman were hauled in too, according to Asia,” said Francie, looking all too pleased about the news. “The faculty don’t seem to have caught wind of the girlfriend yet, but it’s only a matter of time.”

“You don’t really think Rory was involved, do you?” asked Lem, frowning some.

“Come on, Lemon, don’t be so naive.” Francie rolled her eyes. “You saw that disgusting display in the cafeteria the other day. Those two have been joined at the lips more often than they haven’t.”

Through this whole conversation, Jess didn’t say a word. He honestly didn’t know what he could say. There was no way he wanted Francie asking his opinion on what happened because she probably wouldn’t like what he told her, or she’d like it too much, depending on which version of the truth he went with.

The fact of the matter was, Jess had no proof that Rory had been anywhere near Tristan when he was up to whatever fun and games had got him and his bozo friends into trouble this time. That said, he would bet every cent he had that she was there. He couldn’t think of anywhere else Rory would’ve been headed when she left his place last night.

“Ugh, I have Chemistry,” Francie complained as the bell rang overhead. “Walk me to class, lover?” she asked Jess with faux-sweetness.

She was lucky he was listening at all since he had just spotted Rory heading the other way down the hall.

“I’m not going that way,” he told Francie hurriedly. “I’ll catch up with you later.”

He turned and left too fast for her to make a grab at him. Jess never even noticed she had her lips pouted for a kiss, or that her friends tried to hide laughter at how put out poor Francie looked at having been left behind. Jess had his full focus on catching up to Rory and he made it a second before she disappeared from his sight.

“Hey,” he said, grabbing her sleeve. “I need to talk to you.”

“Get lost,” she told him, trying to get away but he held firm and met her eyes.

“I need to talk to you, now,” he said definitely.

Rory stared at him for a second or two, clearly considering her options. Jess wasn’t going to buy that she couldn’t be late for class, since he knew damn well it never bothered her before. Besides, they were supposed to be friends, and if she didn’t care about that, she would at least care that he could probably land her in some trouble if she gave him a reason to. After all, they both knew she had tried to make him her alibi the other night, before presumably running off with DuGrey.

“You’re ridiculous,” she said, rolling her eyes as she pulled her arm from his grasp, then stormed into the nearest empty classroom.

Jess followed, checking nobody was paying any mind before closing the door behind them. If nobody was in the room yet then there was no class there first period and they didn’t have to worry about being disturbed. Jess was only missing Physics and Miss Ryder loved him so he would get away with one little tardy. Rory didn’t seem to care much about that kind of thing anyway, so it shouldn’t matter to her.

“What do you want, Jess?” she asked, turning back to look at him from halfway down the empty classroom. “Math isn’t my favourite place to be, but somebody is going to notice if I skip altogether.”

“Where were you last night?” he asked, folding his arms across his chest.

Rory smirked terribly.

“What seems to be the problem, officer?” she joked, hands held up in mock surrender as she took a couple of steps towards him again. “Did you drag me in here to frisk me for weapons?”

As if Jess hadn’t known she was dangerous before, he was doubly certain of it now.

“I’m not messing around, Rory,” he told her crossly. “Do you know how much trouble DuGrey and his idiot friends are in?”

“Don’t know, don’t care,” she said, dropping her hands and rolling her eyes as she sat down on the edge of the nearest desk. “I told you before, I’m not married to Tristan, I just hang out with him sometimes. He’s... _fun_ ,” she said with a salacious smile.

Jess tried not to gag at the images that ran through his head.

“He’s an ass, Rory. An ass that’s probably going to get kicked out of here eventually, and if you keep hanging around with him, they’re gonna kick you out too.”

At that, she laughed.

“This is not my first rodeo, Jess,” she reminded him. “I’ve been kicked out of schools before, why should this one be different? I mean, what do I have to stay here for anyway?”

“How can you even ask that?” Jess shook his head. “I know you like to put on this whole ‘too cool for school’ act but I know you’re smarter than that, Rory. I’ve seen it.”

“I couldn’t care less about being cool,” she told him, glaring through eyes too heavily made up in dark shades. “You know how I feel about school, it’s a waste of my time. I cannot wait to be eighteen so I can get out of here,” she said, growling in frustration as she hopped back onto her feet. “You have no idea what my life has been like, Jess. I know you think we’re the same somehow, but you’re wrong. Your parents suck, I know, that’s crappy for you, but at least you knew who they were from the beginning. At least you had Luke, and hey, apparently my mother, to look out for you. What the hell do you think I had?” she asked him, volume rising with every word.

“You have a mother,” he reminded, trying not to lose it like she was, but struggling just a little. “Grandparents too, and yes, I get it, they messed up when you were a kid, but it’s over now, Rory. You have the truth, you have a family, and they’re doing their best for you, okay?”

“What do you know about it?” she countered, getting in his face. “You do not know me, Jess Danes. You can be as book smart as you want, but you do not know me!”

“But Tristan DuGrey does?” he bit back.

Rory grinned but there wasn’t a trace of friendliness or humour in the look. It was like watching a rattlesnake smile.

“What’s the matter, Jess?” she asked him, leaning in closer. “Jealous?”

He opened his mouth to tell her she was pathetic or stupid or something else that was insulting but ultimately untrue. In the end, he couldn’t do it, he couldn’t deny what they both knew was true. Yes, he was jealous, and it was driving him crazy. Unable to put any of it into words in that moment, Jess reached out to Rory’s waist, pulling her closer and crashing his lips against her own.

Jess hadn’t thought it through, so he had no idea how he expected Rory to react. One thing was for sure, she wasn’t backing off. She had one arm wrapped around him and one hand creeping up to the back of his neck as she tried to deepen their kiss, and that was when reality hit Jess like a smack in the face. He immediately pulled away, breathless and bemused, even though he had been the one to start the kissing.

Rory stared wide-eyed at him a moment, but before she could say a word, Jess shook his head.

“I’m sorry,” he told her, turning and practically running from the classroom, leaving Rory to wonder what the hell just happened.

* * *

“I have to say she’s been pretty cool the last few days, friendly even,” said Lorelai, wrapping both hands around her cup on the table. “I’ll take what I can get for now. It’s still early days after all.”

“I think you’re doing great,” Luke told her kindly, adding more coffee to her cup. “It’s only been a few weeks, but she’s obviously settling in better. She came around to see Jess last night for homework help.”

“Yes, she is doing the homework.” Lorelai nodded. “I personally am amazed. Even I wasn’t so great at keeping up with that at her age.”

“Yeah, me either,” Luke confessed, “but Jess is good for that kind of thing. I’d like to think he’s being a good influence on her.”

“I think he is,” said Lorelai with a smile. “He’s such a good kid.”

“Rory’s not a bad kid. She’s just been through hard times.”

“Find me a person who hasn’t. Ah well, we seem to be on the right path for now and that’s all I ask for.”

“Does she see your parents at all?” asked Luke carefully, mindful of what a touchy subject that was.

“She’s been over there a couple of times.” Lorelai nodded. “I went with her on her birthday. My God, was that ever awkward?” she said, shuddering visibly.

“So, you won’t be seeing them for Thanksgiving?”

“I’m hoping to avoid it, but I don’t know.”

Luke nodded that he understood and then continued to look sort of shifty. Lorelai couldn’t quite figure out what his problem was and so, in true Gilmore fashion, she wasted no time in bluntly calling him on his odd behaviour.

“What’s up with you?”

“Nothing,” said Luke, shaking his head. “I was just thinking, but it’s fine, it’s probably a dumb idea anyway,” he said, waving it away, even though he hadn’t actually said what it was yet.

“Tell me the idea, let me have a vote on whether it’s dumb,” she suggested eagerly. “Come on, I love a good dumb idea,” she teased, grinning wide.

Luke smiled too, he couldn’t help it. Sometimes she was too much.

“I was just thinking about Thanksgiving,” he told her then, hardly looking at her at all. “I mean, you know we open in the morning, serve the folks that can’t or don’t make their own food or whatever.”

“I do know this.” Lorelai nodded. “I am one of those ‘can’t or don’t’ folks myself, mostly ‘can’t’.”

“Exactly, but I was thinking, since you have Rory now, and if you weren’t going to your parents’ place or whatever, maybe after I close up the diner, you and me, and Rory and Jess, could have dinner together. You know, like a real family Thanksgiving. Not that we’re an actual family and I’m not suggesting that, but I just thought it might be nice, you know, for the kids.”

Lorelai wasn’t sure how to respond to that. For one thing, it was rare for Luke to say that many words altogether at once. He was kind of the king of the monosyllable much of the time, not because he was dumb or anything, just because he wasn’t so much with the chatter. That had always been Lorelai’s area, which was probably why they got along so well.

Of course, it also floored her that Luke even suggested in passing that the two of them plus their teenagers could make a happy family holiday scene. It was a nice thought though and, quite honestly, she couldn’t think of a reason to say no.

“Wow. That actually sounds like a great plan to me,” she said, smiling widely. “Thanks, Luke.”

“It’s no big deal,” he told her, shrugging his shoulders. “I just thought something stable and normal, more like a real Thanksgiving, it might be good for Rory.”

“Yeah, I think it probably would be,” Lorelai agreed. “You’re a heck of a guy, Danes, you know that?”

“Whatever.” Luke rolled his eyes, but the smile on his lips proved he didn’t hate the compliment she had tossed his way.

Lorelai smiled too as she watched him walk away to tend to other patrons. She meant what she said, he really was a heck of a guy, and it wasn’t the first time she had noticed. She seemed to have been noticing more and more, ever since Rory came to town and made her comments about Lorelai and Luke being a couple. There was no truth in that, never had been, but it put the thought into the front of Lorelai’s mind and, quite honestly, she had trouble removing it. Now really was not the time for her to be getting romantic notions about anyone, least of all Luke Danes, but Lorelai couldn’t help but let her mind wander once in a while, and now was one of those times.

* * *

“Hey, sunshine!” Lorelai greeted Rory with a wide smile as she came into the diner after school.

“Why did I have to meet you here?” she asked, coming over to the table and sitting down with a bump. “Shouldn’t you be doing this at the inn?”

“Sookie is knee-deep in new recipes so the kitchen was out of bounds and you know I can’t do paperwork without coffee,” said Lorelai, gesturing to both her papers spread over the table and the mug in her left hand.

“What’s wrong with the house?”

“The TV lives there,” said Lorelai with a look.

Rory nodded, finally understanding. It was strange but despite not knowing each other as well as mother and daughter should and not exactly spending a great deal of time working on that, they had picked up each other’s quirks pretty fast. Rory knew that Lorelai was easily distracted by coffee, fast food, and TV, and had a real penchant for fashion magazines. Likewise, Lorelai knew Rory went weak at the knees for Salinger and Indian food, and was weirdly persnickety about the way her laundry was done.

“So, there’s no reason why I can’t go to the house and get distracted by the TV, right?” asked Rory then, glancing behind her at the door.

“Um, well, I guess not,” Lorelai considered, looking up from her papers, “but I was kind of hoping for a little conversation if you have the time. Nothing fancy, I’m not looking for the Gettysburg address out of you, just a simple run down of your day maybe. School was good?”

“It was fine,” said Rory defensive, checking the door again.

“No problems?”

“None.”

“Oh, there was no trouble in gym? The teacher was cool with the note I wrote for you?”

“Absolutely fine, thanks,” said Rory, turning around one more time.

“Okay, either you’re practising to become an owl or Linda Blair, and I gotta tell you, honey, I’m not a fan of either choice,” said Lorelai then, putting both her pencil and her cup down hard on the table. “Rory, what is wrong?”

“Nothing,” she insisted, folding her arms over chest and making a big deal of looking pissed.

“Nothing is making you watch the door like a hawk?” Lorelai checked.

The moment she asked the question the door opened with a jingle of the bell. This time Rory didn’t turn, though Lorelai suspected the guy who just walked in was the one she had been watching for.

“Hey, Jess,” she said pointedly, trying not to smile too much as her daughter spun around to look. “How’s things?”

“Fine,” he said shortly, turning swiftly to the counter to talk to Luke. “You need me here, because I have a lot of reading to do?”

“You go do your homework, I’ve got it covered,” his uncle assured him. “But hey, before you go, I wanted to tell you, I invited people over for Thanksgiving dinner.”

“People?” Jess echoed, frowning some.

“Hi, we’re people!” said Lorelai with a jaunty wave. “Me and Rory, we’re the Thanksgiving crashers,” she said, grinning wide.

Jess looked from her to Rory, who had now swivelled in her chair again to stare at him. Their eyes met for a beat or two, and then suddenly Jess was leaving very quickly and Rory was turning back around to face Lorelai, looking as sullen as she had ever seen her.

“Okay, what was that about?” asked Lorelai curiously.

“Nothing,” said Rory shortly, waiting a few seconds before she got up too. “I’ll see you at home,” she said and then she was gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this fic is now going on hold ‘til 2019. I do this every year as I have a lot of other stuff to do in December, including Christmas-related fics and of course plenty of RL things too. Please rest assured, this story will be back in the new year, and yes, I know, it’s a shame to stop here, not least because they’re about to have Thanksgiving right around when the real deal is, but there you go, it’s got to be done. I'm sure you understand :)


	11. Chapter 11

“Do we have to go?” asked Rory, practically whining as she followed Lorelai upstairs to her room.

“Er, if you wanna eat, then yeah,” her mother told her. “Come on, what’s the problem? We’re talking free food of the really yummy kind, no dishes, no clean up whatsoever, nothing to do but eat, drink, and be merry... and when I say drink, I mean, booze for me, soda for you,” she clarified, opening up her closet and peering inside.

“I just don’t see why we have to eat at the Danes’ house. There are other places.”

Rory threw herself down on the bed, knowing she was being dramatic but somehow unable to help herself. She really wasn’t sure what was going to happen if she got left alone with Jess at all. Quite honestly, she didn’t even know what she wanted to happen anymore.

They managed to avoid each other all week, which was no mean feat for two people who lived in the same town, went to the same school, and were supposed to be pretty good friends, despite such a short acquaintance. Nevertheless, Rory and Jess both pulled out their best avoidance tactics and, at the very least, had managed not to be alone together since their major lip-lock moment.

Of course, things were going to get a whole lot more complicated now that Thanksgiving was upon them. In school, even in the streets of Stars Hollow, it was easy enough to take a left when the other person took a right. Trapped in a house together, with only Luke and Lorelai to act as buffers, that was going to be a heck of a lot tougher.

“You think this looks okay?” asked Lorelai, holding a dress against her body.

Rory made a face.

“Hey, a resounding ‘no’ without a word spoken, clever.”

“I thought you said something about a green dress?”

“I did, but then I remembered I spilled wine on it last time I wore it and never got around to having it cleaned, so green is out.” Lorelai sighed. “I should’ve had a Plan B sooner than an hour before we have to leave, but not so much.”

Rory pulled herself up off the bed and pushed into the closet beside her mother, looking at options. It occurred to her that she could probably talk to Lorelai about Jess and that maybe she might even be able to give her some sound advice. After all, Lorelai had her own share of teen angst when it came to boys, Rory’s father being a case in point. Rory couldn’t ever imagine talking to Emily about that kind of thing, but Lorelai might be okay. She had proven to be kind of cool over the past few weeks, for a woman who lied to her from Day One and avoided her at all costs anyway.

“This one,” she said, pulling out a dress in deep burgundy and holding it out to her mom.

Lorelai put it against herself and looked in the mirror, smiling suddenly.

“This could work,” she said, nodding approval. “You’re pretty good at this game for a person who has such a deep love for the black.”

“I’m not allergic to colours or anything.” Rory rolled her eyes. “Black’s a good base. It goes with everything.”

“That is true, and also, very practical,” Lorelai noted. “Thanks, hon,” she said, waving the dress at her. “Any way I can repay the favour?”

Rory looked at her oddly as she sat back down on the edge of the bed.

“I can dress myself, thanks.” 

“Not what I meant.” Lorelai shook her head, hanging the dress on the closet door and coming to sit by her daughter. “You seem like maybe you have something on your mind the past few days and, call me crazy, but it also seems like maybe you’ve been avoiding Jess?”

Rory was a little stunned that Lorelai was that observant, or maybe it was just that she hadn’t expected her to care all that much about what was going on with her life. Clearly, she was wrong on both counts, and Lorelai was giving her an easy in to talk about what was on her mind, Rory just wasn’t quite sure she was ready to trust her enough to share.

“I’m fine,” she said, forcing a smile, “and so is Jess, as far as I know. I’m actually kind of surprised he’s not spending Thanksgiving with his girlfriend,” she said, getting up from the bed and wandering towards the window.

“Oh, well, I guess with the holidays being more a family thing, he wanted to spend it with Luke,” Lorelai considered, shrugging her shoulders.

“We’re not family and we’re going over there.”

“That is true.”

Lorelai wasn’t sure what was going on with Rory. She had her suspicions and they ran in the direction of Rory liking Jess more than a little, and maybe even Jess liking her back, but as Rory just pointed out, Jess did have a girlfriend. Francie never did seem keen to come to Stars Hollow and so Jess usually went to Hartford to take her out. Not that they seemed to really go out that much. From what Luke said, even he had barely met Francie above a couple of times, and most of her and Jess’ interactions seemed to take place in school.

“Do they hang out much at Chilton?” she asked aloud. “Jess and Francie, I mean.”

“How should I know?” Rory shrugged, continuing to look through all the trinkets on Lorelai’s vanity, picking up the occasional necklace or eyeshadow compact for a closer look.

“I don’t know, you’re there too, and I thought you and Jess spent time together, you know, when you’re not avoiding him.”

“I’m not avoiding him!” Rory snapped.

Of course, when she looked at Lorelai and blue eyes met blue eyes head on, she knew she couldn’t keep on lying, because her mother was not believing it.

“I’m still open to repaying the favour on the clothing help,” said Lorelai gently. “If you want to talk about it, I can listen. Might even be able to help a little. Wasn’t so long ago I was a teenage girl, you know?”

Rory swallowed hard and then sighed.

“You can’t help,” she declared, dropping a lipstick back onto the vanity with a clatter. “But I guess you may as well know. Jess kissed me last week.”

“What?” Lorelai gasped. “He kissed you? But he’s still dating Francie?”

“As far as I know.” Rory shrugged.

“Okay,” said Lorelai, looking thoughtful a moment. “So, how exactly are we feeling about this situation? I mean, you don’t like Jess that way, right?”

There was some definite squirming on Rory’s part and then she quickly made for the door.

“I’m going to get changed.” she said as she left.

“Rory, honey, come on,” Lorelai called behind her. “Please, don’t walk away. I wanna help.”

“Yeah, well, you can’t,” said Rory snippily, not turning back at all.

Lorelai heaved a sigh.

“And a Happy Thanksgiving to all,” she said to herself. “At this point it might actually have been less stressful going to my parents’ house!”

* * *

“Damn it!” Jess cursed as he dropped a plate and it shattered spectacularly against the kitchen tile.

“You go finish the table,” Luke advised, shooing his nephew away from the mess. “I’ll clean this up. Seriously, what is the matter with you today?”

“Nothing, it was an accident,” grumbled Jess as he went out of the door.

Luke sighed and shook his head, grabbing the dustpan and broom to clean up. It wasn’t that he thought Jess was deliberately causing damage today, but there was definitely something wrong with him. He had been like a bear with a sore head for days now and Luke had sort of hoped that it was just some trouble at school that he would get over when the holidays rolled around. No such luck, apparently. If anything, Thanksgiving seemed to have put Jess in a worse mood than ever, and though he wasn’t exactly the guy to encourage anyone else to open up about their feelings, Luke was reaching a point where he might just have to ask Jess what was going on. Just maybe not today when the Gilmore girls were due to arrive at any moment.

Right on time, the doorbell rang, and Luke called for Jess to answer it.

“Hey, Luke,” Lorelai greeted him as she came into the kitchen.

“Hey,” he replied, finishing off washing and drying his hands. “Er, Rory’s with you, right?”

“Sure, yeah,” she agreed. “I left her back there with Jess,” she explained, coming further into the room and lowering her voice. “Truth is, I think they could use a little alone time to figure things out.”

“Oh. Okay,” said Luke, whispering back to her. “What happened?”

“Jess didn’t tell you?”

“No, Jess didn’t tell me anything.”

“Well, Rory didn’t say much except that those two kissed last week.”

“Rory kissed Jess?”

“I think it was more Jess kissed Rory, actually.”

“But he’s with Francie.”

“I know this.”

“Well, that’s not okay.”

“I know that too, which is why I think maybe if we give them a few minutes maybe they’ll talk and figure it out.”

“Or maybe they’ll take this opportunity to kiss some more and make matters worse,” said Luke with a look.

“Damn it, I didn’t think of that,” Lorelai replied, opening up the door and rushing through to the living room. “So, kids!” she said, clapping her hands together and grinning wide. “Who’s ready to eat until they puke?”

It was almost a relief to find them on either side of the room, not speaking never mind touching. Of course, it might have been nice if they were at least talking given that this was supposed to be a celebratory meal and day, but Lorelai would take what she could get for now.

* * *

“Anybody want anything else?” asked Luke as their Thanksgiving feast came to an end.

“Delicious as it all is, I think you may actually have achieved a miracle today, Luke,” said Lorelai, smiling widely. “Pretty sure I’m full.”

“Wow, that really is a miracle,” he agreed. “Rory, Jess, more pie or anything?” he checked then.

“No, thank you,” said Rory, as politely as she ever said anything.

“I’m done,” said Jess, waving his hand in a ‘no, thanks’ gesture too.

“Alright then.” Luke nodded, getting up to clear the table.

“Oh, we can help with that, right, Rory?” said Lorelai politely, standing up and encouraging her daughter to do the same.

“Actually, I was thinking I’d take a walk, if that’s okay.”

“A walk? Really?” Lorelai checked, finding that strange.

“Yeah, I... I’m supposed to make a call,” she said, pulling out her cell phone. “I kind of promised them.”

There was a significant look on her face when she said ‘them’ and a light bulb went off over Lorelai’s head. She quickly nodded.

“Right, sure. Yeah, you go, walk, talk, whatever you need,” she said, grabbing up plates and dashing off to the kitchen with them.

Luke followed at a more sedate pace, checking back over his shoulder to ensure that Rory really was leaving and Jess was staying put. Satisfied that seemed to be the case, he went to the kitchen, only to find Lorelai braced over the sink, looking pale.

“You okay?” he checked.

“Yes. No. I don’t know,” she admitted, turning to look at him. “I’m an awful person, Luke,” she told him, shaking her head. “I just feel so weird about Rory calling my parents. I... I don’t really want her to talk to them, which is crazy, because they’re her grandparents, and before that, they were kind of her parents and... my God, this makes me sound so selfish, but now she’s here, I kind of feel like it’s my turn,” she said, her hand on her heart even as tears filled her eyes. “I feel like she’s mine now and they shouldn’t get any of her time because when she was their’s I sure didn’t.”

Luke felt awful for Lorelai as she started to cry. Dumping the dishes on the table, he reached for her, pulling her into a hug without even thinking about it.

That was how Jess found them, though they didn’t notice him by the door and he decided it was probably best not to interrupt. Turning back around, he grabbed his jacket from the hook and headed out the front door, planning to follow Rory.

She said she wanted to call her grandparents, but Jess knew what she was like with false alibis. Besides, it was time the two of them really talked. Earlier, when Lorelai left them alone, he had waited for Rory to say something but she hadn’t, and just when he had thought about speaking first, Lorelai was back and the moment was lost. It was so stupid. He had been the one to kiss her, but she had definitely kissed him back, and now neither of them was saying anything about what happened next. Well, Jess decided he was going to now, because the not knowing was driving him crazy.

Rory couldn’t have gone far and Jess suspected he knew where she would be headed. Not home, because she had told him before that she barely considered Lorelai’s house to be home yet, not anywhere in the town square where other people might see her. No, Jess had a feeling she would be in the one spot he had told her himself was a good place to go to be alone, and there she was, sat on the bridge, seemingly just finishing up her call.

“Okay. Well, Happy Thanksgiving and I guess I’ll talk to you soon. Okay, bye.”

She hit the button on her cell and shoved it into her pocket, eyes fixed on the view even when she spoke.

“You’re really not that stealthy.”

“I wasn’t trying to be,” Jess told her as he came a few steps closer. “You okay?”

“Fine,” she replied, even as he watched her wipe her cheek with the back of her hand. “Did you have to follow me? I thought Stars Hollow was one of those towns where nothing bad ever happens to anyone.”

“It is, mostly,” he agreed, moving to sit down beside her. “Rory, we need to talk.”

“Do we, Jess?” she asked, turning angry eyes on him then. “And what exactly do you think we need to talk about?”

“Rory,” he said, shaking his head, but she wasn’t letting it go that easy.

“No, Jess, you tell me what we need to talk about. The fact you say you’re my friend, only to judge me on everything I do and everyone I hang out with? Maybe the fact that you made a big deal about having a girlfriend and yet you kissed me the other day, before running out the door like I was a leper?” she asked him angrily. “Are these the things we need to talk about, Jess? Because honestly, I don’t think I want to.”

She moved to get up, but he grabbed her sleeve and kept her by him.

“Rory, I’m sorry,” he told her honestly. “I didn’t mean to... to make things complicated. I don’t know what happened last week, I just... I like you.”

“You like me?” she echoed with a humourless laugh. “That’s great, because you are still dating Francie, right?”

“That’s not the point.”

“It’s exactly the point, Jess. Are you still dating, Francie?” she asked again.

“Yes,” he told her, though his eyes had shifted to the water now as he looked pretty shame-faced about the whole thing.

“Okay then.” she said, pulling free of his grip and getting to her feet. “Then do me a favour and stay the hell away from me.”

When she walked away then, Jess knew there was no point in following her anymore. What she said was true, as was what she made him confess. He was still dating Francie, and while the thought had occurred to him a few times that he could easily break things off with her, he never quite followed through.

Being with Francie was easy, most of the time. They got along, didn’t really bug each other, and they always had a date when they needed one for a school event or dance, plus they kept any other unwanted interested parties out of each other’s hair. It was more a business arrangement these days than a real relationship, but it worked for them.

Jess couldn’t imagine breaking up with her in pursuit of Rory, who would probably never date him in a million years anyway. Her reputation proceeded her. She hung around with guys like Tristan, having a good time but not seriously wanting to be with them in any real way. That wasn’t what Jess wanted with Rory.

Getting up from the bridge, he dusted off his pants and started to walk home. He had barely gone a few steps when he changed his mind and headed the other way. For Lorelai’s sake, if nothing else, he ought to make sure Rory was okay, and he had a feeling she was heading for her house rather than his right now, given the conversation they just had.

Nearing the Crap Shack, as it was affectionately known, Jess stopped walking very abruptly when he saw two people at the end of the drive way with their arms around each other. The girl was definitely Rory and the guy, if he wasn’t mistaken, was Tristan DuGrey.

“You have got to be kidding me,” he muttered to himself, turning around and walking quickly back home.

If Lorelai asked, he was going to tell her the truth about this, damn the consequences.


	12. Chapter 12

Thanksgiving had been kind of a bust. By the time Jess got back to his house, Lorelai had stopped crying and didn’t even look sad anymore. Of course, Luke asked where Jess had been and Lorelai asked if he had seen Rory, which led to Jess admitting he had seen her and that she had been with Tristan DuGrey back at the Crap Shack. Lorelai had left very quickly then and Luke had, of course, asked Jess just exactly what was going on.

“And before you say ‘nothing’ and try to disappear off to your room to hide, don’t,” he said firmly. “I want to know what is going on, Jess, and I want to know now.”

Luke wasn’t much for laying down the law as a rule, but he got this look and this tone sometimes which Jess had learned long ago you do not want to mess with.

“Fine,” he relented, sitting down heavily in a chair and running a hand across his forehead. “What do you wanna know exactly?”

“I heard something about you and Rory kissing.”

“Aww, geez.”

“Never mind ‘aww, geez’, Jess, what is going on? You have a girlfriend, in case you forgot.”

“I didn’t forget, okay?” he snapped, the guilt of what he had done making him more angry than anything else in that moment. “I just... Call it temporary insanity. I thought I liked Rory but I don’t, so it doesn’t matter now.”

“You don’t?” asked Luke, though from his expression he wasn’t going to believe Jess whether he told the truth or not

“No, I don’t,” he confirmed regardless, “and even if I did, she and DuGrey are so into each other, they’re like conjoined twins most of the time, so what would be the point anyway?”

There was silence for a few moments, then Jess got up and went towards the sink, rolling up his sleeves and muttering about doing the dishes.

Luke certainly didn’t see what else he could do to make the situation better. He doubted there was a way, truth be told. It had been clear to him for a while that Jess did like Rory, and he suspected that Rory liked Jess too. If Jess wasn’t dating Francie, maybe it would help, but even then, it seemed Rory had a few issues that ought to be ironed out before she started dating anyone, at least Luke thought so as the uncle of the guy she might want to date.

“So much for a happy Thanksgiving,” he muttered to himself, getting up to help with the dishes - what else could he do?

* * *

“Rory?” Lorelai called as she came into the house.

“Hi,” she replied from the couch where she was either engrossed in the TV or pretending to be.

“You didn’t come back,” her mother remarked as she took a seat in the armchair. “What happened?”

“I walked a while, then came back here.” Rory shrugged.

“Uh-huh, and you didn’t run into Jess at all?” Lorelai checked. “Or maybe some other guy that I’m not supposed to know about?”

Rory heaved a sigh and rolled her eyes for good measure, turning off the TV and tossing the remote aside.

“If you already know where I was and what I was doing, why are you asking me?”

“Because, I’d like it better if I heard these things from you instead of second-hand gossip and me second-guessing everything,” Lorelai told her crossly. “I’m doing my best here, kid, and I know it’s probably not good enough, but I’m trying. Please tell me that you see that, at least.”

Rory turned her head away and thought for a minute. She did know Lorelai was trying, and though it couldn’t make up for the past, she did have to appreciate the effort at least a little bit, she supposed. It would be great to have someone to talk to about her problems and, not for the first time, Rory considered how useful Lorelai could be in that capacity. It was just hard for her to open up, to trust at all, and it wasn’t as if any member of Rory’s family should wonder why that was.

“I suppose you know what happened with me and Jess already,” she said, looking back at Lorelai.

“Today? No, I don’t.” Lorelai shook her head.

“We fought over what happened last week.”

“The kissing?”

“Obviously.”

“Right. So...?”

“So, I asked him if he was still dating Francie and he is, so that’s it.”

“That’s it? I mean, if he likes you-”

“He doesn’t, and I don’t like him either.”

Rory folded her arms across her chest and turned away again, so much the grumpy child that she always claimed not to be. Lorelai couldn’t really have any more sympathy for her than she did right now. It was awful to want someone who didn’t want you back, even though it seemed as if Jess kind of did want Rory back, he was just too afraid to end what he already had in order to leap into anything new.

“I’m sorry, kid.” Lorelai sighed.

“For what?” asked Rory, glancing her way.

“For life constantly kicking you in the teeth lately?” she tried, daring to get up and move over to join Rory on the couch. “I know a lot of what’s wrong with your life is my fault, but I swear, I only ever want good things for you. I want you to be healthy, I want school to go well for you, and your romantic life, and everything else. Unfortunately, even the best moms can’t guarantee that stuff for their kids, and I am nowhere near the best mom.”

“You’re not the absolute worst either,” Rory admitted, so quietly, Lorelai was sure she would’ve missed it if they weren’t sat so close together. “I mean, the lying when I was a kid, it wasn’t your idea, right?”

“No, it wasn’t,” said Lorelai, shaking her head, “but I went along with it, and then when the truth came out... God, Rory, you have no idea how much I wish I had insisted on having you come be with me then, but I wasn’t... I didn’t know how. I just wasn’t strong enough, but I should’ve tried harder. It’s easy for me to say my parents convinced me to go along with their plans, and they did do that, but I should’ve fought for you. I really should’ve fought and I regret that I didn’t, every day.”

There were tears welling in her eyes long before she was done talking, which made Lorelai wonder if she really was seeing the same signs of sadness in her daughter or just imagining it because of her own blurry vision. When Rory suddenly got up and all but ran to her room, it confirmed to Lorelai that they were both hurting as much as each other, but at least some honesty had come out of today, and maybe one more wall had been broken down.

The proof of that came hours later when Rory emerged from her room again, asking if there was anything to eat. Lorelai put on coffee, grabbed the last of the Mallomars, and they sat down at the table together, eating in silence for a little while. Eventually, Rory said what it seemed she had come to say.

“Tristan was here,” she admitted. “You know I’ve been seeing him, right?”

“I heard about it.” Lorelai nodded, not willing to say where she heard because Rory probably knew that already anyway. “He came here today?”

Rory nodded. “To say goodbye. His father got so mad at him. He’s kind of been in some trouble lately. Anyway, he’s being shipped off to some military academy, tonight, I think he said. So, that’s that,” she added, balling up a piece of kitchen paper and throwing it onto the table.

“I wish I knew what to say to make it better, babe,” said Lorelai, considering a moment. “Last Mallomar in the box?” she offered then.

Half a smile pulled at the corner of Rory’s mouth.

“You ever feel like that?” she asked thoughtfully. “Like the last left over Mallomar in the box?”

“Huh! More times than I care to recall,” her mother told her with a sigh. “I really do mean what I said, Rory. I really do wish I could make it better.”

“Thanks,” said Rory, munching on the last snack, as silence reigned once more.

* * *

It was Saturday before the Gilmore girls faced the Danes guys again. Nobody really made a conscious decision about it. Lorelai just didn’t ask if Rory wanted to go to the diner or anything on Friday, and hardly felt comfortable going there by herself, not when she knew what she did about Jess, not after crying all over Luke before. Then suddenly on Saturday, it was Rory who asked if they were going to Luke’s to eat.

“If you really want to,” Lorelai agreed. “You’re sure you really want to?” she double-checked.

“I’m hungry, so yeah,” said Rory, sure there was nothing in the house that could really be described as food and it was way too early in the day to be ordering take out.

The girls put on their coats and hats and headed out, neither saying a word on the way to the diner.

When they finally got there, Rory went in first with Lorelai right on her heels. There were quite a few people in the place, including Miss Patty who gave them a wave, and Kirk who came over to Lorelai to ask her opinion on his latest business venture.

Rory walked towards the counter, sitting down on a stool and picking up a menu to hide behind for a bit. She wasn’t sure whether to be relieved or disappointed when it was Luke who came to ask for her order.

“I should wait for Lorelai,” she said, gesturing back over her shoulder.

“Yeah, she could be a while,” said Luke, wincing on Lorelai’s behalf as Kirk went on and on at her. “Coffee to be going along with?” he offered Rory.

“Yes, please,” she said politely, even managing a semblance of a smile. “Er, and thanks for the other day, Thanksgiving, you know? The food was good.”

“You’re entirely welcome,” Luke assured her, smiling back as he served her coffee and poured one for Lorelai too, since he knew she would need it. “You two doing okay now? I don’t wanna pry, I just... I know things were a little awkward that day.”

“It’s okay.” Rory shrugged. “I probably should’ve come back to your house when I was done with my call but a friend of mine showed up and... well, stuff happened.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Luke waved away her concern. “So long as you’re both okay now.”

“We’re okay.” Rory nodded. “More or less. I mean, really, what is okay?”

“In this town? I shudder to think.”

Rory laughed at that and Luke was smiling too when Lorelai finally made it onto the next available stool. She grabbed up her coffee mug and took a long drink before noticing all the happy that was happening.

“Well, this is nice,” she remarked looking from Rory to Luke and back again. “Always good to see smiling faces.”

“Agreed.” he said, with a particular look, clearly noticing her own cheerful expression. “You girls want to order now?”

Lorelai reeled off quite the list of items she would like and Rory decided to just have the same. She had no idea what it meant to her mother to have her trust her judgement even on such a simple thing as a meal at the diner, but it was a lot.

While Luke was in the kitchen fixing their food, Jess emerged from behind the curtain. He looked a little startled when he saw the girls, as if he wished he could run right back the way he came, but he didn’t do it.

“Hey, Jess,” Lorelai greeted him cheerfully, hoping he didn’t notice her smile was a little fake. “How’s things?”

“Things are fine,” he assured her. “How’re you?” he asked politely.

“I’m good. You good, Rory?” she asked her daughter.

“Pretty much.” she agreed, nodding her head.

“That’s good.” Jess nodded too.

“Are you working today?” Rory asked him then.

“Not ‘til later. I was doing inventory in the store room, came through to get some food.”

“Well, did you want to join us?” asked Lorelai, hoping that was the right choice in the circumstances. “We were just waiting for a table to open up and voila, two just did,” she said, gesturing behind her. “We have choices.”

Jess looked at Rory and Rory looked at Jess, neither apparently willing to say anything until the other one did. Lorelai elbowed her daughter a little bit in the hopes that would prompt words.

“Yeah, you could sit with us,” she said awkwardly. “I, er... I wanted to talk to you about that Hemingway that you leant me.”

That got a smile out of Jess and then he nodded.

“Sure, let’s sit,” he said, moving towards a table.

The Gilmore girls got up to follow him, Lorelai leaning in to whisper in Rory’s ear as they moved.

“You know, if you told him Tristan is gone, he might just pick you over the girlfriend.”

Rory looked at her with wide eyes a moment and then shook her head.

“You’re deluded.”

Lorelai sighed as she followed her to the table.

“Well, I tried.”


	13. Chapter 13

Rory wasn’t exactly looking forward to going back to school on Monday. She didn’t hate the fact that she and Jess were kind of friendish again, even if they were sort of acting like the whole kiss thing never happened, which couldn’t be healthy. Of course, Rory had grown up surrounded by practised liars and secret-keepers, so it came surprisingly easy to her when she needed it to. It was in the genes, after all.

It didn’t really bother her too much that Tristan wouldn’t be in school anymore. She couldn’t deny he was easy on the eyes and somebody she hadn’t minded killing time with, but he wasn’t so special. Besides, he had a tendency to get himself into the kind of trouble he didn’t know how to get out of, as proven by his father busting him for his latest crimes and shipping off to a military school. Rory may have got banished to one boarding school after the other, but at least her family hadn’t gone that far.

It was just that school didn’t thrill Rory at all. She could do the work, complete the homework, pass the tests, but it all seemed so pointless. She had no real, solid idea on what she wanted to do with her life when she turned eighteen, but she knew her future wasn’t Stars Hollow or Hartford. It wasn’t being a society girl like Emily had been and she couldn’t quite picture being a businesswoman like Lorelai either. Rory was only sure that she wanted to be done with school just as fast as she could, if for no other reason, to escape all the stupid, awful people there.

“Hmm, I wonder how Rory Gilmore is taking the news?”

She stopped on the other side of the wall in the girls’ locker room, waiting to hear what else was going to said about her before she went any further. She wasn’t sure who had spoken then, but the next voice was unmistakably Jess’ bitch of a girlfriend, Francine Jarvis.

“Please, it’s not like she and Tristan were Romeo and Juliet. That wasn’t love, it was over-active hormones.”

“Not like you and Jess,” said one of her vapid friends.

Rory fought her own gag reflex as continued to listen.

“I don’t know. I can’t exactly say I plan to marry the guy or anything,” said Francie, no doubt wearing that horribly annoying little smirk that she thought looked so clever. “I mean, come on, he’s cute and he has that whole outsider vibe that works for me, but he’s not one of us.”

“Francie!” another friend gasped. “You’ve been dating for over a year.”

“And we will continue to date, at least until Junior Prom. After that, I’ll reassess. If no-one else more useful to my social status shows up, I might keep him around longer, but this is purely a high school arrangement, girls. It’s all it was ever supposed to be.”

“Does Jess know that?” asked the first friend again.

Rory hadn’t realised she was holding her breath waiting on that answer until Francie delayed too long in giving it and the lack of oxygen made her head swim.

“I doubt it,” said Francie at last, giggling a little. “But what he doesn’t know can’t hurt him.”

Rory saw red and was seconds away from flying around the corner to say or do something regrettable when the second friend piped up again.

“Francie, you’re bad!” she said, laughing also. “But seriously, if you want to keep Jess even for a little while longer, you might wanna shorten his leash. Now Tristan is gone, that leaves Rory Gilmore without a play mate, and they are friendly, you know?”

“Friendly?” Francie echoed. “Please!” she said in such a way that Rory could just imagine her rolling her eyes too. “Jess has better taste. There’s no way that illegitimate, gothic, little tramp is taking my man away from me.”

Which part of the portrait she painted was the most hurtful, Rory couldn’t say. Maybe it wasn’t even the words used to describe her that stung, but more so Francie’s complete disbelief that Rory would ever be good enough for Jess. It was like blades in her chest and pins in her eyes as she fought for composure, and then, as it often did with Rory these days, the pain and sadness turned to fury.

It was true what they said about anger being red. Rory’s vision was completely obscured by that very colour as she lunged around the corner, grabbing Francie by the hair and wrenching her head back. Of course, she fought back. Only a fool would stand there and take a beating, and though Francie was a lot of things, she was no fool. The claws were out and blood was drawn on both sides before the PE teacher finally emerged from her office and pulled apart the two girls who had been knocking each other into next Thursday on the locker room floor. Apparently, they were both in serious trouble, but Rory could not stop smiling. Francie looked so much better with blood on her face.

* * *

“In all my days working in education, I am sure I have never been so shocked by the behaviour of two young ladies. Boys, yes, they have been known to rough house on occasion, and somehow, we must accept that these things do happen, but the two of you? Young women of good name and good breeding, fighting like wild animals. It is abhorrent and I will not stand for it!”

Rory bit her lip so as not to speak up on the topic of equality, immediately regretting it as the cut there started to bleed some more into her mouth. It still wasn’t fair that when boys fought it was bad but understandable, yet when girls fought it was as if the world might end from the shock.

Headmaster Charleston continued his ranting and Rory found herself starting to zone out. She had heard similar speeches before, some on fighting, others on smoking on school property, stealing the belongings of others, being out past curfew, and talking back to teachers. She was pretty sure she knew most of these standard angry teacher lectures by heart, and in these kinds of schools, they pretty much all ended the same way.

You had to do a lot, an awful lot, to be kicked out of places that cost this much, and Rory ought to know, because she had found the limit in every school she had been to up to now. Chilton was a little different. It was her last chance. If this didn’t work, she wasn’t sure what the alternative would be. Maybe a military academy like Tristan. She shuddered at the thought.

It didn’t matter today. This was her first major infraction at Chilton, so she would be safe enough. Francie on the other hand ought to consider herself warned. Rory looked at her enemy out of the corner of her eye and fought the urge to smile, knowing it would curry no favour with the headmaster if she was caught grinning. The blood was gone from under Francie’s nose, but the swelling was pretty impressive. She was going to have a black eye too and a fun time at the salon getting some poor sucker to fix the small bald patch Rory had made. That part hadn’t really been deliberate, it just turned out Francie’s hair came out really easy is all.

Rory couldn’t say she hadn’t suffered in the fight. Her hand was killing her from the couple of really good punches she landed, and the scratches on her cheek and her arm from Francie’s nails still stung like hell, but she had won, and everyone was going to know that. Jess was going to know that. That particular thought wiped the smile right off Rory’s face all of a sudden.

It wasn’t as if winning the brawl meant winning the guy. Rory never thought that for a second. This wasn’t some inverted medieval situation where two women could take up arms in a fight to the death for the hand of the handsome prince. Chances were good Jess would be pissed at Rory, again. After all, she had started it. Well, she could live with that, and she could get him back on side later. It wouldn’t be the first time.

“I want no more of this behaviour,” Headmaster Charleston was saying when she tuned back in. “Is that understood?”

“Yes, sir,” Francie intoned.

“Yes, sir,” Rory echoed.

They were both dismissed then, complete with slips of paper detailing all the detentions they would be attending, in separate rooms at separate times, of course, so nothing like this occurred again.

Sure, they were far enough away from the headmaster to be heard, Francie leaned into Rory as they got to the door of the outer office.

“You need to watch your back, Gilmore.”

“Really?” said Rory, eyes glittering with an angry fire. “You should take a look at your face before you make threats, Jarvis,” she said with a wicked smile as she walked away.

* * *

Rory didn’t especially make a point of avoiding Jess for the rest of the day, but she wasn’t exactly sorry she hadn’t seen him either. As much as she wished it didn’t, it bothered her that he was going to be mad about what happened. She refused to acknowledge why his opinion mattered so much, for fear of what it might mean, but somehow she just couldn’t help it.

Stepping out of school when the last bell finally rang, she had meant to make a dash for her car and get the hell out before Jess or anyone else decided they wanted a word with her. Rory got a real shock when she saw a familiar figure waiting for her in the parking lot.

“Good afternoon, Rory,” said Richard as she drew nearer.

“Hi,” she said, offering the smallest of waves. “What are you doing here?”

“Well, after what happened earlier today, Harlin... that is, Headmaster Charleston, called me to inform me of his concerns.”

“I just figured he’d call Lorelai,” said Rory, scuffing the toe of her shoe against the cement and only looking at that same shoe as she spoke.

“Yes, well, I’m fairly certain he did let her know too, but he is an old friend of mine and I think he felt that, circumstances being what they are, I might also want to know the situation.”

There was a long pause in which Rory hadn’t a clue what to say for herself and it seemed Richard had nothing more to say to her. The man who had been ‘Daddy’ to her until she was ten, who was actually Grandpa now, who she loved so much and yet hated at the same time for what he put her through. It never got any easier to face him.

“Rory, my dear, what on earth possessed you?” he asked, his hand briefly at her shoulder and finally getting her attention.

“I don’t know,” she said, a little too sharply. “Maybe I just couldn’t stand one more person standing in front of me telling lies about who and what I am.”

Richard’s eyes closed a moment as the hurt flowed through him. Rory didn’t like causing it in a lot of ways, but she couldn’t help it. It felt like a natural instinct to lash out at those who had wounded her first. She may feel as if Richard tried more than Emily, even more than Lorelai for a while, but it didn’t change what happened in the past, nothing ever could.

“Are you alright, at least?” he asked after a moment. “You’re not badly hurt?”

Rory shook her head, one hand brushing lightly over her own scratched cheek. “She fights like a girl,” she said, smirking slightly, and more so when she realised Richard was chuckling too.

“Not like my girl,” he said without thinking, killing the smile that had blossomed on Rory’s face in an instant.

She wasn’t his girl, not his daughter anyway, but she did know better how to defend herself because of him. Despite how Emily tried to make her a lady, Richard was the one who believed in all people being able to take care of themselves in this world. You didn’t start fights, but you always finished them, that’s what he had told her after a situation in grade school had gotten out of hand many moons ago. Rory hadn’t been so angry in those days, hadn’t started that fight, but she went down swinging, even then.

“You know, I don’t intend to mention any of this to Emily,” said Richard then. “I can’t guarantee she won’t hear about it from Bitty or somebody else, but she certainly won’t have it from my lips.”

“Thanks,” said Rory begrudgingly. “So, you didn’t come to yell at me?”

Richard shook his head and smiled sadly.

“I came to ensure you were not badly hurt,” he told her once again, “and... and to see you, because I’ve missed you. It was so very nice to hear your voice at Thanksgiving, but not at all the same as having you there.”

Rory looked away, blinking hard, and then returned her attention to Richard.

“Maybe next year,” she said, not even sure if she really meant it, but it was worth saying just to make them both feel a little less bad for a while.

“I’d like that very much,” he told her, nodding his head.

He moved closer then, hugging Rory very briefly and dropping a kiss on the top of her head. When he turned to go, he didn’t say goodbye or that he would see her soon. With things the way they were, Rory wasn’t sure how long it would be before they would be in the same place at the same time again. It took a lot of working up to, but it meant something to her that he had made the effort she supposed. Now she had two reasons to be glad she started that fight.


	14. Chapter 14

“It might not be as bad as it seems,” said Sookie, forcing a smile.

Lorelai’s eyes went wide. “I’m sorry, there’s a good way for my kid to be in a fist fight with another girl?”

“Well, no,” her friend winced, “but, nobody is badly hurt. No broken bones or hospitals, and didn’t you say they were both equally to blame? Maybe Rory didn’t even start it.”

“She was fighting Jess’ girlfriend,” said Lorelai, putting her hands over her face a moment as she sighed. “If Rory didn’t start it, it would be an absolute miracle.”

“Oh,” said Sookie, wincing some more. “She likes Jess?”

“She likes Jess.” Lorelai nodded confirmation, finally taking her hands away from her face. “I actually think Jess likes her too but, you know, there’s Francie. I really, really hope my parents don’t hear about this. My father might literally have another heart attack.”

“I’m sure it’s not as bad as it sounds.”

“How is a fist fight not as bad as it sounds?” Sookie flinched back at her friend’s harsh tone and Lorelai sighed. “I’m sorry, Sook. I’m really sorry, I just... I’m out of my depth here. I thought I was making progress with Rory. I mean, we’re getting along better than we were, a lot better. She’s even been opening up to me a little, but now this? What am I supposed to say to her? If I yell at her for fighting, she’ll go back to hating me, but if I let her get away with it, she’s going to think I endorse this behaviour. I’m screwed!”

“Well, I’m no expert on teenagers or kids at all,” Sookie reminded her, “but maybe ask her, calmly if you can, what started the fight? Communication is key, right?”

“Right. Yeah, that’s true.” Lorelai nodded. “You know, I was the one telling her it wasn’t so long ago I was a teenager too?”

“Did you ever...?” asked Sookie, miming a kind of boxing match of similar and making Lorelai smile in spite of herself.

“No... maybe,” she admitted, squirming in her seat. “I slapped a girl once. She said something about me. In my defence, I was pregnant and hormonal, and Suzy Benson was kind of a bitch.”

Sookie bit her lip but still failed to hold in a chuckle of laughter.

“Well, maybe you and Rory can swap fight stories, Rocky,” she teased.

“Maybe,” Lorelai agreed. “Ugh, I could really use not having all this drama.”

“This is what comes with having a kid, I guess, but it’s all worth it, right? Getting to be a real mom at last.”

Lorelai sighed and then nodded her head.

“Yeah, it’s worth it,” she admitted. “But it’s tough, Sookie. It’s so much tougher than I thought it would be. I don’t know if it would have been easier if I had her from the get-go. I mean, raising Rory myself, it would’ve been hard, but at least she might not have been so angry and bitter about everything,” she said sadly. “It’s not that I don’t love her the way she is, because I do, I can’t not, but I hate knowing she could’ve been happier, more well-adjusted or whatever, if I’d just been stronger back then.”

“Aww, sweetie,” Sookie sympathised, giving her friend a hug. “You did what you thought was right at the time, Rory knows that. This isn’t all your fault, and hey, so long as you’re doing your best now, that’s all anyone can really ask.”

Lorelai couldn’t say anything else. There were tears in her eyes as it was and her voice just wasn’t going to work at all, unless she was prepared to start sobbing and really embarrassing herself. She hoped that by the time she talked to Rory about this fight she would know what to say and that her daughter wouldn’t be too hostile when they discussed it. Still, she wondered how things were ever going to get better until Rory and Jess figured themselves out. Knowing how teens in love, or at least in lust, could be, Lorelai didn’t hold out much hope for it coming to a decent conclusion any time soon, if at all.

* * *

“This is becoming a habit.”

Rory smiled when she said it, she couldn’t help herself, though it pulled on her lip and almost split it again, so the expression didn’t last long. She glanced at Jess as he joined her sitting on the bridge, his feet dangling down over the water next to hers. She was waiting for him to say something, anything, but for two whole minutes, that felt like an hour, he didn’t speak a word.

“Are you going to say anything or just sit there?” she asked eventually.

Jess sighed. “What do you want me to say?”

Rory shook her head. “I don’t know,” she admitted. “I was kind of expecting you to yell. After all, I’m pretty sure I broke your girlfriend’s nose today.”

She dared to glance his way just as he seemed to have the same thought. He didn’t look mad which was oddly surprising given the circumstances. Rory really had expected yelling, anger, frustration. The soft look in Jess’ eyes as he looked at her was almost worse.

“I think Francie held her own,” he said, his hand coming up to barely touch Rory’s cheek that was scratched up and just now starting to bruise.

“Don’t,” she said, flinching away.

“I’m sorry,” Jess apologised. “I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

“You didn’t,” Rory insisted. “Just don’t.”

She got up to leave then, even though a part of her really wanted to stay. This was insane and Rory just couldn’t handle it. The biggest event in her day up to now was a fist fight with Jess’ girlfriend, and now, here he was being kind to her. One of them had to be certifiable. Rory still wasn’t sure whether it was him or her.

“Rory!” he called to her before she had hardly got three steps away.

“What do you want from me, Jess?” she asked him desperately as she turned back. “I attacked your girlfriend today. I know it’s gone down in Chilton’s big black book as a draw, but I started it!” she insisted, her hand at her chest. “I grabbed Francie by the hair, gave her a bloody nose, a black eye, and God knows what else. I’m not saying I’m proud of it, but I’m also not sorry,” she said definitely. “So why are you here being nice to me, Jess? You should hate me.”

He frowned at that remark, getting to his feet so they were standing all of a couple of feet apart, on the bridge still.

“Is that why you did it? So, I’d hate you?”

“What? No!” Rory insisted, knowing she probably looked as confused as she felt by now. “Is that what you thought?”

“Not really.” Jess shook his head, stuffing his hands deep into his pockets since it seemed he didn’t know what else to do with them. “Actually, I already know why you did it. Not all the girls in that locker room were friends with Francie. Madeline and Louise, they really don’t like her too much, but they do like me.”

Rory wasn’t sure what to make of the smirk on his face, she only knew she didn’t like it much.

“Aren’t you the lucky one?” she muttered, folding her arms across her chest.

“The point is it didn’t take much to get the truth of what happened from the two of them,” Jess explained, stepping forward to try and meet Rory’s eyes when she started evading. “They told me what Francie said about you... and about me.”

Rory steeled herself against the possibility of getting upset and all but glared at Jess.

“So?”

“So,” he echoed, “I think if I heard somebody say those kinds of things about us, I’d probably want to punch them too.”

Rory swallowed hard her eyes fixed on Jess’ own and no will left in her to look away. He was genuinely the nicest guy, actually willing to side with her against his own girlfriend because he heard the truth and believed it. Clearly, he knew Francine Jarvis was capable of saying those bitchy awful things and apparently didn’t blame anyone for losing it if they heard them. Of course, the idea of him actually throwing a punch was more than a little amusing. The humour, Rory hoped, would at least break the tension that was making her heart beat at a mile a minute.

“You? Punch somebody?” she said, smirking just a little. “The sweet beloved prince of all Stars Hollow?”

“Well, you’ve never seen me get mad,” Jess told her, a smile starting to break out on his face. “It’s not pretty.”

Rory couldn’t help but laugh at the very idea, at least until she tasted blood.

“Great,” she muttered, patting herself down for some tissue.

She wasn’t looking at Jess, didn’t know that he was doing the same thing until suddenly one hand gently held her face and the other dabbed at her lip with a clean handkerchief. Of course, he was the kind of guy to carry such a thing. Rory might’ve laughed some more, but nothing was funny enough right now. In fact, it was so serious she almost forgot to breathe.

“Jess,” she said too softly, stepping back away from him and his gentle touch. “I told you, don’t,” she insisted, turning her back on him before something really stupid happened... again.

“Rory,” he said behind her, “what if I broke up with Francie?”

“What do you mean?” she asked without turning, knowing it was a stupid question.

There was only one meaning to a question like that. Jess wanted her opinion on whether or not he should dump his girlfriend or, more precisely, what might happen with the two of them if he did. It was a question Rory was almost too afraid to answer right now, in spite of the fact she was pretty sure this was what she had been hoping for the entire time.

“I don’t know, I just... I’ve been wondering for a while what the point is,” said Jess then. “Francie doesn’t really like me, I knew that long before today, it’s all just a game to her. I didn’t mind playing for a while, but now?”

“What’s different now?”

“Rory, come on.”

“What’s different now?” she repeated, turning to face him. “Tell me.”

There was a long pause before Jess finally answered her.

“You. You’re different,” he confirmed that Rory hoped she already knew and yet hardly dared believe. “So, what if I broke up with Francie?”

Rory meant to answer him. She meant to tell him at least some of what she felt and all of what she wanted, but every word stuck in her throat. Saying what she was truly feeling, it didn’t come easy to Rory. Putting her faith and trust in somebody else, it was almost impossible for her to risk, and she had no idea how to explain.

“Rory?” he prompted when she was quiet too long.

Shaking her head, she started to back away.

“I... I don’t know,” she admitted. “I’m sorry.”

The next thing Jess knew he had a view of Rory’s back as she bolted away from him. Maybe it occurred to him to chase her down but he didn’t do it, and Rory wasn’t sure if she was more relieved or hurt by that. All she knew was that she couldn’t stop running and got all the way back to the house that was technically home before she dared to slow down at all.

Practically falling in the front door, she was hardly aware of Lorelai calling to her. Rory was bent double in the hallway, sobbing harder than she had in a long time when her mother found her.

“Oh my God,” she gasped, dropping to her knees as Rory seemed to collapse in on herself. “Sweetie, what happened?”

“I’m such an idiot!” Rory cried.

Lorelai truly did not know what to think. The scratches on her baby girl’s face made her wince but it was the tears that broke her heart. She looked so absolutely devastated and Lorelai couldn’t think for a moment that it was the fight or facing the Headmaster that had made her so upset. Something else had happened, something they probably needed to talk about, alongside what the hell had happened with Francine Jarvis hours before. For now, it seemed, there couldn’t be any words. Rory had none to give and Lorelai could find none to offer as she hugged her daughter close and rubbed her back, trying to bring any comfort she could.

Sitting in the hallway with their arms around each other, Rory crying like she would never stop, it wasn’t quite the way Lorelai wanted to be given a chance to truly connect with her daughter, but she would take what she would get. She didn’t really have much of a choice.


	15. Chapter 15

“You feeling better now?” Lorelai asked Rory carefully, mindful of setting her off on another crying jag, or worse.

“Yeah, thanks,” her daughter told her, sipping from the mug she held tight in both hands.

“Nothing like coffee for what ails you.” Lorelai nodded, knowing she sounded much more chipper than she actually was.

It really was not any kind of fun when your kid came home, battle scarred, and crying like her heart was breaking. It was quite a while before Lorelai could get Rory to calm down. She sat her down on the couch, bringing her copious amounts of tissue for her tears, any chocolate-based snacks she could find in the kitchen (which wasn’t as much as it ought to have been) and a very large mug of strong coffee. Rory looked a little less frighteningly devastated now, but still sad.

“Sweetie,” said Lorelai in her softest tone, “what happened?”

Rory swallowed down one more gulp of coffee then her face twisted up into something angry.

“Francine Jarvis is a bitch,” she spat, looking everywhere but at her mother. “She was saying all this stuff about me and... and I just got mad.”

Lorelai nodded. “Okay, I actually wasn’t talking about the fight, but thanks for telling me anyway,” she clarified. “I meant what made you so upset? I mean, the fight was hours ago, and I know Headmaster Charleston can be pretty intimidating but hey, so can you, right?”

Rory smirked a little. “I guess.”

“So?”

That got a sigh three times as big as the question, but at least it led to an actual answer in the end, for which Lorelai was grateful.

“I was talking to Jess at the bridge.”

“Uh-huh. Was he mad?”

“No. Actually, he was the opposite of mad.”

Rory moved to put her now empty coffee cup on the table, then just seemed to fold in on herself amongst the couch cushions. She wouldn’t look at Lorelai and her arms were wrapped around her as if they were a shield keeping everybody out. She was hurting, it was so obvious, but Lorelai doubted the physical injuries from her fight were giving her much trouble. This had to do with Jess and they were going to get nowhere today, or ever, if Lorelai couldn’t at least find out what the deal was.

“You know you can tell me anything, kid,” she said gently. “I’m not gonna judge. Would I rather you don’t start physical fights with your class-mates? Sure, but I got into my fair share of trouble before I was your age. Different trouble, but still,” she said with a look Rory could understand more than most. “So, no judgement,” Lorelai repeated, hands held up in mock surrender once her coffee cup was lined up with Rory’s on the table, “just a pair of listening ears and a couple of shoulders to cry on. Maybe even a little advice from someone who’s been there, if you want it.”

Finally, Rory spared her a look. She moved to bite her lip and winced when the cut reminded her it was still there. Of all the injuries she sustained, that was the most annoying. Mostly, she didn’t care about the scratches and bruises. They didn’t hurt anything like as bad as the twisting up of her insides every time she thought about Jess.

“Did a guy ever offer to break up with his girlfriend so he could be with you?” she asked Lorelai outright, watching as her mother’s eyes grew ridiculously wide.

“Wow. Uh, no, not that I recall,” she said, shaking her head. “Jess said that?” she checked then.

“Jess said that.” Rory nodded confirmation. “He has to be crazy, right? I mean, I beat up his girlfriend and his response is to tell me he could break up with her... for me?”

Lorelai had to admit, if only inside her own head, that didn’t seem like the behaviour of a sane person, but then she also had to admit she didn’t have all the information here. If Rory was going to share this much, she could only hope to get the answers to a couple more pertinent questions, then maybe between them they could finally decide if Jess really had lost his marbles or not.

“Sweetie, still not judging, and really hoping this isn’t a stupid question, but why did you take a good old swing at Francie?”

“I told you,” Rory grumbled. “She’s a bitch.”

“Yeah, and I went to school with a bunch of those, but I didn’t hit all of them, even when I was really, really tempted.”

“Yeah, well. She said some stuff, about me, about Jess. She didn’t know I heard her until after.”

“Stuff about you?” Lorelai checked. “The kind of stuff that’s my fault?

Rory frowned a little and then seemed to realise what she meant.

“She may have mentioned that my parents weren’t married when I came along,” she said eventually, looking away. “Mostly it was stuff about Jess having better taste than to date me, and a lot of stuff about how she was only dating him because she could. You know, she doesn’t even like him? Not really, she just wants a boyfriend and he works for her, because he’s different to everybody else in that school, because he’s good looking, and smart, and sweet, and-”

Rory stopped talking very quickly when she realised that she wasn’t listing the reasons Francie was using Jess but rather the reasons she liked him herself. That wasn’t supposed to come out, especially not in front of Lorelai. In fact, it surprised her a little that she felt that strongly about Jess at all. She hadn’t meant to.

“You know, what, babe? I think you deserve a guy like Jess way more than Francie does,” said Lorelai smiling just a little. “He must think so too if he was talking about dumping her to be with you.”

“That’s not exactly what he said.” Rory shook her head. “He just asked me, ‘What if I break up with her?’ and he said he knew she didn’t really like him, he was just willing to play her game for a while. Things are different now, apparently.”

“What did you say?”

“Not much,” Rory admitted, swallowing hard. “I had no idea what I was supposed to say. I don’t... I never really had a guy like Jess want to... to be friends or... my boyfriend or whatever. He’s just this nice guy, you know?”

“I know.” Lorelai nodded. “Honestly, he’s the best guy. He’s a lot like Luke that way. They’re just good people.”

“Yeah. Too good.”

“Now, wait a second,” said Lorelai crossly, getting up from the chair and joining Rory on the couch. “You better not be saying what I think you’re saying, missy, because that’s not okay. Jess is a nice guy but he is not too good for you. No guy is too good for you, you hear me? There is absolutely nothing wrong with you.”

“Huh!” Rory scoffed. “You might be the only person on the planet that thinks that, and hey, even you didn’t always.”

Lorelai closed her eyes and willed the pain and the anger to go away. She didn’t want this to turn into a fight, she really didn’t, not when they were making so much progress. Of course, it hurt to be reminded that she pretty much abandoned her daughter from the day she was born, but getting mad about it wouldn’t help. It wasn’t Rory’s fault that she felt this way, most of it was a reaction to what had been done to her and that was all on her parents and her grandparents.

“Rory, please,” she said, opening her eyes and trying her hardest to meet her daughter’s gaze. “I know that if you have some inferiority complex or whatever I have to take responsibility for some of that, and Emily and Richard can come stand in that circle with me, but for all that you felt abandoned by us and poorly treated, you have to know that there has never been a second, in the whole of your life, when I haven’t loved you. Everything I have done since the moment you were born - the good, the bad, and the ugly - it has been what I thought was best for you. Did I make the wrong choices? God, yes. Did Emily and Richard help with those wrong choices? You bet your hiney. But we always love you, Rory, all of us. It’s one thing all three of us never failed to agree on. We love you and you are worth a million of any other kid in this whole world, okay?”

It was debatable who was trying the hardest not to cry after that particular speech. All Lorelai knew was that she had failed to keep her own tears in check as they splashed down from her cheeks onto her hand where it was gripping Rory’s arm. The poor kid was struggling just the same, swiping at her face with her free hand but unable to keep up with the streams of water that just kept coming.

“I hate feeling like this,” she said eventually, sniffling hard. “I don’t know what I’m doing.”

“Oh, kid, nobody ever really does,” Lorelai promised her, taking a chance and pulling Rory into a hug that she seemed grateful to receive. “The teenage years are the worst. Your body’s going crazy with the changes and the hormones, you don’t feel like you fit in anywhere, not with your family or your friends or anyone, and then suddenly there are boys and they’re great but they’re scary, and all the feelings. Geez, it sucks to be seventeen.”

Rory gurgled a laugh against Lorelai’s shoulder. “You’re really helping a lot,” she told her, sarcasm fully evident.

Lorelai laughed, she couldn’t help it. “I’m sorry, kid,” she apologised, daring to kiss the top of her head. “I do wanna help. There’s only so much I can do, I know, but when you wanna talk, I always wanna listen, and when you need to just sit and bawl about stuff, that’s okay too,” she said, pulling back to look at her little girl, for once without all the dark makeup that had been almost entirely washed and wiped away.

“Thanks,” said Rory, sniffing some more. “I mean that.”

Lorelai nodded, afraid if she said anything else in that moment she would start crying all over again. Taking a deep breath, she managed to compose herself a little bit and then pressed forward.

“Okay. We need food,” she declared. “The diner is out.”

“Way out,” Rory confirmed.

“But there are plenty of other places. I’m thinking over to Al’s, buy two of everything he’s made for tonight, then swing by the video store, pick out something really inappropriate that I usually wouldn’t ever let you watch, then a basket full of anything with chocolate in the title from Doose’s and home to binge. Sound good?”

“You’re a little crazy,” said Rory with laughter in her voice that was a pleasure for her mother to hear.

“No, babe,” she told her, putting her hair back behind her ear. “I’m a lot crazy. It kinda runs in the family.”

“Can’t argue with that.” Rory shrugged, getting up from the couch. “I need to clean up my face before we go.”

She disappeared off to the bathroom and Lorelai took a moment to marvel at what had just happened here. There was no way she could ever be glad that her kid had such a crappy day or had got so terribly upset, but this connecting thing they had going on, maybe it was the silver lining to an extremely nasty looking cloud. It sure did feel like silver to Lorelai, or maybe even gold.


	16. Chapter 16

Jess Danes was well aware that all Luke had hoped to achieve in taking him on as a baby was to raise him right, something that Liz would never have been capable of. Luke was all about doing the right thing, standing up for what you believed in, being the bigger man. He didn’t have a lot of rules, but Jess had learned the ones Luke taught him very well. A few pertained to the proper treatment of women and one thing Jess knew was non-negotiable was you did not cheat on the person you were with. It was why he knew if he really wanted to be with Rory, he did have to break up with Francie. Of course, that was where things got just a little bit complicated.

“What do you mean she’s not coming to school?” he asked too loudly. “For how long?”

“I don’t know exactly.” Ivy shrugged.

“She sent everyone a text message last night.” Lemon confirmed. “It just said she wouldn’t be around for a while until she was ‘fully recovered’,” she air-quoted.

Jess leant back against the lockers, and ran a hand over his face. He couldn’t believe this. All he wanted to do when he got to school this morning was talk to Francie, end their joke of a relationship, and then try and figure things out with Rory. It was never going to be quite as straightforward as one-two-three like that, but Jess had a plan at least and he wanted to run with it. Fat chance.

The bell rang and the girls dispersed, with Ivy apologising that she couldn’t help more and Lemon casting a sad smile Jess’ way. He vaguely wondered if they knew more about what was going on with Francie than they were letting on, but he doubted it.

At least this proved what Jess already knew. His so-called girlfriend didn’t exactly care much about him if she had let everyone but him know what was going on with her. It only confirmed that he had made the right choice, just dump her already and be done. Now he just had to track her down so that he could.

Turning around to head to class, Jess moved all of two paces when he suddenly spotted Rory. Their eyes met for a second before she looked away, but Jess couldn’t just let her go.

“Hey,” he said, catching up to her.

“Hi,” she replied, looking everywhere but at him as they walked along.

“You okay?”

“Fine.”

“Good. So, Francie isn’t in school. I’m going over to her house after.”

“Great.”

“Rory, come on.” 

Jess’ hand on her arm made her stop walking and the momentum pulled her around to see the desperate look on his face.

“What?” she asked, shaking her head on confusion.

“I’m trying to tell you something,” he said, lowering his voice a little when he realised how much attention they were getting. “I... I’m going over to Francie’s house to tell her I’m done. It’s over with me and her, or it will be after 3.30 when I can get to her house and tell her.”

He waited a few seconds for Rory to react but she didn’t. Jess almost thought she was going to smile but the expression never fully formed, and then she turned hard eyes to meet his own.

“What do you want me to say to that?” she asked, apparently in earnest.

“I don’t know.” Jess shrugged. “I just thought you’d wanna know. I thought maybe... maybe you’d be happy.”

Rory stared at him for a second or two then bit her lip. There were a hundred different things she could say, because there were a hundred different things she was feeling about this situation, but turning any one of them into words seemed impossible. The hallway slowly cleared of people and that only made it worse somehow. Alone with Jess. Alone with this great guy who was planning to break up with his girlfriend today so he could be with her. It made Rory’s heart hammer in her chest and the breath leave her body. It was as amazing as it was terrifying, and quite honestly, she just couldn’t handle it right now.

“I... I have to get to class,” she said all in a rush as she practically ran the last few steps to the classroom door and all but threw herself inside.

Jess watched her go, momentarily stunned, and then turned and trudged his way to his own class, wondering how he was going to get away with another tardy, and all for nothing, it seemed.

* * *

“I thought it was bad enough when I was a teenager, but being the mother of one? Geez, it’s like a whole new minefield to navigate, and the worst part is, if I say the wrong thing, two of us get our foot blown off, not just me.”

Luke made a face at Lorelai’s choice of analogy.

“You really had to go with body parts flying off when I’m doing this?” he checked.

Lorelai looked down at the ketchup bottles, splatters of their contents on the counter as Luke filled them. She winced.

“Yeah, bad timing,” she realised aloud. “Sorry. I mean, don’t get me wrong, the teen drama is doing wonders for me and Rory finding ways to connect, but seriously, this whole thing with her and Jess is just...”

“Complicated,” Luke supplied. “I know, I got his side last night. Seems Francie is getting the boot in favour of Rory.”

“Okay,” said Lorelai. “That comment came with a face.”

“What?”

“The face you just made, what was that?”

“This is my face,” Luke told her, meeting her eyes. “You ought to be used to what it looks like by now.”

“I know your face, but that expression it was wearing a second go, that wasn’t good,” Lorelai explained. “When you said that Jess was dumping Francie for Rory you kind of... I don’t know it was somewhere between a frown and a wince.”

“So, I frinced?” asked Luke, more than a little amused by the joke apparently.

Lorelai wasn’t. “Luke, I’m being serious. I know it’s rare thing, but I am. Come on, you don’t want Jess to be with Rory?”

Luke heaved a sigh.

“I don’t not want him to be with Rory, I just... I don’t know, I guess I could use a little less drama at home,” he said eventually. “Jess dating Francie has been fine. He doesn’t complain about her, they don’t really seem to fight. He goes over there sometimes, she’s been over here maybe twice and was polite to me both times. It’s just been easy to deal with.”

“And you think if Jess dates Rory there’ll be drama?” asked Lorelai, not looking at all happy about it. “I know she’s had a tough time, Luke, and God knows she’s not perfect, but that’s my daughter you’re talking about.”

“I’m not talking about her,” he said, hands up in mock-surrender. “I just said I could use a lack of drama and, so far, you said yourself, what is between Jess and Rory is mostly dramatic.”

“Well, yeah, I guess,” Lorelai conceded, “but that’s mostly because of Francie, not Rory or Jess. She’s the problem here, and once Jess does dump her, I’m sure everything will be fine.”

“You’re sure?” Luke checked, not at all convinced apparently.

Of course, when Lorelai really thought about it and opened her mouth to confirm what she believed, she realised maybe she wasn’t quite so certain herself. Rory had issues with relationships of all kinds. As much as she and Jess got along, Lorelai was pretty sure it would not be plain sailing with the two of them, even when there wasn’t a third party to get in the way. She wanted it to work out, but they were talking about teenagers here, one of which, at least, wasn’t entirely emotionally well-adjusted.

“I just want her to be happy.” Lorelai sighed. “I want them both to be happy, and I’d like to think there’s a good chance they can be happy together.”

Luke’s sigh echoed hers as he leaned on the counter.

“You know I only want their happiness too, Jess and Rory,” he confirmed. “I really didn’t mean to be so down on the whole thing. I mean, if they can make it work, good for them, but you have to be ready for it not to work also. Relationships don’t always, especially with teenagers,” he reminded her with a look.

“I know,” she agreed, nodding her head. “Can I get another coffee, to go this time please? I should really be getting back to the inn.”

“Coming right up,” said Luke, turning to get her drink. “You know,” he said as he handed the paper cup to her a minute later, “whatever does happen with those two, it will be fine in the end. I will be here for Jess and you will be there for Rory, and when they drive us crazy, we’ll be right here for each other,” he said with a smile.

“Thanks, Luke.” Lorelai smiled right back at him, reaching for her purse to pay for her coffee.

“On the house,” he told her, pushing the cup closer to her end.

“Really, thanks, Luke,” she said, grinning all the wider as she took her coffee and left.

“You’re welcome,” he said softly watching her go.

* * *

As if it hadn’t been bad enough to get to school and be told by Francie’s friends that she wasn’t going to be there, when Jess went over to her house to talk, he found she wasn’t at home either. The maid informed him that she and her mother had gone to some spa and wouldn’t be back until next week. It did not put Jess in a good mood, not least because his supposed girlfriend had disappeared without so much as telling him where she was going. Of course, it was worse that he had planned to break up with her today and now his plan was screwed. He would have to tell Rory it hadn’t happened, not that she seemed to care much when he told her it was happening in the first place.

Jess threw his bag into the armchair and his keys onto the table. He was so pissed with this whole stupid situation. He was done with Francie, more than done, and if he hadn’t been sure about it before her disappearing act, he was damn certain now. Going to the phone, he dialled her cell from memory. If he couldn’t break up with her face-to-face, then he would do it by phone. It wasn’t what he wanted, but it had to be done.

After five rings, he got her voicemail. Even he wasn’t mad enough at her to break up with her via recorded message, though Jess was sorely tempted. He slammed the receiver back into the cradle and kicked the wall for good measure as frustration over took him.

When a knock suddenly came on the front door, Jess stormed over to answer it, sure that whoever had come to bug him was going to get the brunt of the anger that was really meant for Francie. He felt himself deflate back to his normal self when he realised who was waiting on the doorstep.

“Rory? What are you-”

It was as far as he got into his question before she pushed herself forward and kissed him.


	17. Chapter 17

Pleasantly drowning as he was in the delicious feeling of a really good kiss with Rory, Jess was highly aware that they were on the front doorstep where anybody and everybody could see them. He tried to back off, but Rory seemed pretty determined she wasn’t letting go of him, the two of them stumbling into the house, still joined at the lips. Not that Jess exactly protested at all, because it felt too good to stop. One of them kicked the door closed behind them, he wasn’t sure if it was him or Rory, and then his back hit the wall, startling Jess enough to wake him up from the dream-like situation that was this epic kiss-turned-make-out.

“Rory,” he gasped, trying to put her at arm’s length, his hands on her shoulders. “Not that I’m complaining but... this is crazy.”

“What’s crazy?” she asked, looking a little dazed despite the fact she started the whole thing. “This is what you wanted, right?”

Jess knew the answer to that was yes. He did want this. He wanted her. Rory was different to any other girl he had ever met, which sounded like a real cliché, but it was true. He really cared about her, as well as being insanely attracted to her, especially when she was kissing him like that. Of course, she shouldn’t have been kissing him like that, or more to the point, he shouldn’t have been responding. Unfortunately, that was easier said than done.

“Great,” she said then, stepping away from him and folding her arms over her chest. “How did I know this was going to happen?” she asked an audience that wasn’t there, rolling her eyes that flashed angrily the moment they were focused on Jess again. “I thought you were different.”

“Different to what?” Jess shook his head.

Somewhere between the kissing and the anger he had completely lost his bearings. Since Rory couldn’t possibly know his breaking up with Francie hadn’t actually happened like he planned, he couldn’t understand what had her so mad at him, or why she had appeared on the doorstep without a word and kissed him like that.

“I know you didn’t actually come out and say it, but when you tell a person you’re going to break up with your girlfriend and you thought it would make that person happy, that person assumes you’re making a point.”

“I was.” Jess nodded, finally feeling able to push away from the wall and stand on his own two feet at last. “I don’t want to be with Francie anymore. I... I want to be with you, Rory.”

She looked momentarily confused, even though Jess was sure she should already know all of this. He was pretty certain that he made it clear, if not in words then about five minutes ago when they were kissing like their lives depended on it.

“You want to be with me?” she double-checked, almost as if she was as afraid of screwing up again.

Jess knew how that felt. He was scared of the exact same thing and knew he had to explain himself fast before one of them did something wonderfully stupid again. They needed to start with both parties having all the information.

“Rory, I told you the truth this morning,” he promised her. “I said I was going to break up with Francie and I was, but-”

“Oh, you have got to be kidding me!” she cut in, her hand going to the door.

Before she had even opened it an inch, Jess slammed it shut and got in the way of her trying again.

“Would you just listen for a second?” he urged her. “I tried to talk to her. I went over to her house but she wasn’t there. I called her but she won’t pick up her cell. I tried, Rory. I don’t want to be with her. I don’t know why I ever thought I did. Meeting you, getting to know you, it just proved to me that I never had any real feelings for Francie.”

Rory wouldn’t look at him at first, she couldn’t bear to. There was a voice in her head telling her he was lying, that this was all a big scam. He was still dating the perfect preppy girlfriend and probably spinning Rory a web of lies just to get what he wanted. Of course, she knew that couldn’t be true.

If Jess wanted to use Rory, he could’ve done it already. When they were kissing, he was the one that stopped it. He was the one who confessed everything, without her ever asking. He didn’t have to tell her about Francie and not breaking up, but he did. Jess was a good guy. She had to keep reminding herself he wasn’t like all the rest, but it didn’t come easy. She had just known too many people she couldn’t trust.

When she dared to glance up and meet his eyes, her breath caught in her throat. He really was something else. Guys that looked like Jess usually knew how hot they were and used it to their advantage. Rory didn’t blame the Tristan Dugrays of the world for making the most of their good looks and their money. She had been known to do the same, but Jess was so different. He didn’t think he was special, even though he was. A guy who looked like that, who was also smart and kind, into books and alternative music, and apparently, he could really kiss too.

“You, uh... Were you serious? About wanting to be with me?” she asked, wishing she didn’t sound so pathetic about it, but Jess just did something to her.

Rory was confident with guys, sex didn’t mean much to her anymore, she didn’t really have relationships as such, couldn’t recall ever being somebody’s girlfriend, but that was what Jess meant, as far as she could tell. He made her want to be that girl, even if she wasn’t.

“I’m serious,” he told her, nodding his head. “Rory-”

It was as far as he got before she kissed him again, one hand at his face and the other in his hair. She knew it was stupid. He was still officially dating Francie, but he didn’t want her, he never loved her or anything. He wanted Rory, and she really wanted him.

Jess couldn’t think straight when it came to Rory and that went double for when she was kissing him. There was a voice in his head telling him this wasn’t okay, because technically, he was cheating on Francie, but he wanted to break up with her, and he had tried three times today, albeit to no avail. Besides, Rory knew what she was doing, in more ways than one, and Jess had told her what the deal was. She knew and she had started kissing him again, not the other way around. Of course, he didn’t have to kiss her back, but Jess didn’t have a way of stopping himself, not now.

When they finally broke apart, mostly just for the sake of breathing properly, Rory was smiling wider than Jess had ever seen her smile.

“You’re better at that than I thought you’d be,” she said, smile turning into a smirk.

Jess laughed, he couldn’t help it.

“Wow, that’s the best backhanded compliment I’ve had in a while,” he told her, pushing her mussed up hair back into place for her. “You’re amazing, you know that, right?”

“If that’s what you think, you’re deluded.” Rory rolled her eyes. “I’m actually thinking of having you committed for even saying you wanna be with me.”

“Hey, don’t do that,” Jess told her, frowning now. “You are amazing,” he repeated, holding her face in his hands, looking into her eyes and making sure she knew he meant every word. “You are.”

Rory didn’t have words to answer him, she leaned in to plant one more kiss on his lips.

“I should go,” she said then, even though she didn’t really want to. “I told Lorelai I wouldn’t be gone long and... well, we’re kind of getting along right now, so...”

Jess nodded that he understood, moving away from the door so she could leave if she wanted to. He hated that she did but he knew that she must. If for no other reason, he was pretty sure they were both going to do something stupid if she stayed. Still, even after Rory opened the door to leave, she lingered a moment or two. Turning back, she stole one last kiss from Jess before practically running down the porch steps and away.

Jess leaned in the open doorway and watched her disappear down the street, finally breathing properly again. He meant what he said about Rory being amazing, she truly was, and being with her was clearly going to be an adventure. Of course, he would feel better about this whole situation if he could’ve just gotten a hold of Francie today and ended things with her officially. Hopefully, he would have more luck tomorrow.

One thing was for sure, nobody at Chilton could know he and Rory were close as they were until he and Francie were properly broken up. There had been enough scandal already, Jess was damned if he would cause anymore, not for himself, and certainly not for either of the Gilmore girls.

* * *

“Hey, hon,” Lorelai greeted her daughter. “Wow, that’s a real smiley smile you got going on there,” she noted, not really meaning to sound so surprised, even though she was.

Rory really hadn’t done a whole lot of smiling since she arrived in Stars Hollow, and though Lorelai did understand why for the most part, it was wonderful to see such a look on her face right now.

“Can’t I be happy?” asked Rory, just a little snippy in her tone.

“Sweets, I am thrilled if you’re feeling happy,” Lorelai promised her, folding the last of the laundry onto the pile on the couch. “I was just wondering if maybe there was any special reason for the happy?”

“Maybe.” Rory shrugged, looking away. “I talked to Jess.”

“Okay.” Lorelai nodded. “Good talk?”

She watched Rory closely, waiting for a reaction, preferably a verbal one. When none came, she considered the fact it almost seemed as if her daughter might be blushing, and her eyes went a little wide.

“Oh, so when you said talk-” 

“We did talk,” Rory said fast. “Of course, that’s not all we did but... well, there was talking. Jess is breaking up with Francie.”

“Breaking up,” Lorelai echoed, “but not broken up yet?”

“She wasn’t in school today,” Rory snapped. “He tried going to her house, he tried calling, she’s giving him radio silence or whatever, but he wanted to break up with her, he still wants to.”

“Okay.” Lorelai nodded, knowing she had to tread carefully.

Still, it didn’t take a genius to figure out that she had already stepped on a landmine, as proven by the way Rory exploded in the very next moment.

“God, you say you want me to be happy, I’m finally happy, and you’re still judging!”

“Rory, I am not,” Lorelai insisted. “I was just surprised is all. Jess just isn’t the kind of guy to... to have two girlfriends,” she said awkwardly, “but if you say he wants to break up with Francie and that he would’ve if he could’ve, then that’s cool. It’s very cool if you guys make each other happy, it really is.”

Rory didn’t look as if she entirely believed that, her arms crossing over her chest and eyes looking everywhere but at her mother. Lorelai felt wretched for spoiling such a happy moment, it really never had been her intention at all.

“Rory, come on. I like Jess, you know I do, and if you guys want to be together and that makes you both happy, I promise you, that makes me happy too,” Lorelai promised, daring to venture a couple of steps closer to her daughter. “I was literally just a little surprised about the circumstances. You gotta admit, this whole you and Jess thing has happened kind of fast, and he was with Francie a long time. I swear, that’s all I was thinking. I did not, in any way, mean to be a Debbie Downer on your happy news, okay?”

She tried an encouraging smile and was glad to see the corners of Rory’s mouth start to tilt upward again too.

“I get it,” she said eventually, letting go of the defensive posture a little bit. “Honestly? I think I’d like it better if he had officially dumped the bitch already.”

“See, now, I’d like to be the good mom that says girls shouldn’t call other girls names like that, but with Francie? I think we can let it slide,” she said with a smile. “She was pretty darn mean about you and Jess.”

“It’s fine, she paid for it,” said Rory with a smirk that she couldn’t control. “Twice over if Jess is going to dump her ass.”

“What can I say?” Lorelai shrugged. “The best girl won, babe.”

Rory grinned at that, her happiness seemingly fully restored. For her mom, she thought that was the best she could hope for, until suddenly Rory stepped forward and threw her arms around her. It was probably the world’s briefest hug followed by the fastest ever retreat to the bedroom, but Lorelai couldn’t have been happier with the moment she did get.

How things would work out with Rory and Jess dating, she couldn’t really say. Francie would doubtless be pissed at being dumped, but she was the least of Lorelai’s worries. It bothered her a little what trouble her daughter and Luke’s nephew might get themselves into, or maybe just what trouble Rory might get Jess into. She hated to think that way about her own kid, but she just couldn’t help it.

“It’ll be fine,” she said softly to herself, picking up the laundry to take upstairs.

Unfortunately, even Lorelai wasn’t entirely sure she believed that.


	18. Chapter 18

“You can stop looking at me like that any time,” said Jess, attempting a glare at Luke across the breakfast table, but it really didn’t come out well.

“What? I’m happy, so sue me,” said his uncle, smiling yet as he finished off his toast.

“Yeah, you’re happy.” Jess rolled his eyes, standing up from his seat. “Didn’t stop you giving me the lecture last night about girls with experience, which, by the way, I really didn’t need,” he explained, grabbing his jacket off the back of the chair and pulling it on.

“Hey, you’re still young, and Rory is... well, she clearly-”

“Has experience, I get it.” Jess nodded. “Can we not do this again, please?”

“You brought it up,” Luke reminded him, hands up in mock surrender. “You gonna talk to Francie today?”

“If I can, sure, but if she’s still at the spa and she won’t pick up her cell, what am I supposed to do? Send a carrier pigeon?”

“Well, you could find out which spa she went to and call there,” Luke considered. “Hell, I’ll drive you there to do this thing face-to-face if it’d help,” he admitted.

Jess stopped getting ready to leave and stared at his uncle.

“You never liked Francie, did you?”

Luke glanced up at his nephew, clearly considering his options before he actually answered.

“Honest answer?” he said eventually. “Not really. I mean, I didn’t know her that well, but from what I did know? I don’t know, Jess, she never seemed... well, you two never exactly seemed real close for a couple. Like there were no real feelings there.”

Jess smirked at that. “You’re talking about not showing feelings? That’s hilarious.”

“Hey, you asked, I’m telling you,” said Luke with a look. “You dated for, what? Almost two years? She was barely ever over here, and I know you didn’t go there much either. Outside of school, you’ve probably spent more time with Kirk.”

Jess shuddered at the thought, though he knew Luke had a point. He had thought a lot about the nature of his relationship with Francie, starting over the summer when he realised how little he actually missed her when she wasn’t around. Of course, when Rory came to Stars Hollow, it really hit home just how little Jess cared for his girlfriend when he realised how much he could feel for a complete stranger.

“I gotta go,” he said then, snapping himself out of a daze.

“Already?” Luke checked his watch. “You’re going to be way too early for school.”

“I need to talk to Rory before we head over to Chilton,” Jess explained. “I can’t get a hold of Francie yet, but I guarantee her friends are keeping tabs for her somehow. The last thing I want is them telling her I’m cheating on her with Rory, so until Francie comes back or I can at least get her on the phone, me and Rory can’t be seen together that way in school... or even in town really. You know what this place is like, news travels fast.”

“That’s true.” Luke nodded. “You sure nobody saw anything yesterday?”

“Pretty sure,” Jess told him, though there was a niggling doubt in the back of his mind after the way Rory kind of threw herself at him on the doorstep last night. “I gotta go,” he said again, tearing himself away at least and hurrying towards the door.

“You coming straight home this afternoon?” Luke called after him.

“Far as I know!” Jess called back. “If anything comes up, I’ll call.”

“Okay, just don’t let the door... slam,” said Luke, wincing on the last word as the front door closed with a loud thud.

Jess was, of course, oblivious as he got into his car and drove over to the Crap Shack. He raised a hand to wave to Lorelai as she pulled off the driveway and allowed him to pull in. Clearly, the inn needed her attention early today, which worked out perfectly, since Rory would now be alone.

“Wow, you love school more than I thought,” said Rory as she opened the door to his knock. “You do know how early it is, right?”

“Huh,” Jess replied, unable to form any further words for a few moments.

He had never seen Rory without her make up on and the sight of her now, pretty much bare faced, was actually nice. She was not at all hard to look at even when her eyes were ringed with kohl and everything, but like this, she looked even better somehow.

“Jess?” she prompted, waving a hand in front of his face. “What’s the matter with you?”

“Nothing,” he told her, smiling widely. “You know, you’re beautiful, right?”

“And you’re a crazy person,” she replied, turning away.

Jess caught her arm and pulled her back. “I’m serious. I mean, the whole make-up thing is fine, I don’t have a problem with it or anything, but like this, just you, you’re beautiful,” he repeated, smiling yet.

If anything, she looked even better in the next moment as she blushed under his gaze.

“Come inside, crazy person,” she said, pulling him into the house. “Let me go finish up getting ready. Not that we need to leave for at least a half hour. Did your bed kick you out or something?”

“I just wanted to see you,” said Jess, following her towards her bedroom. “For two reasons.”

“Two?” Rory checked, looking back at him. “What are the two?”

“Well, first” said Jess, smirking a little as he pulled her closer and leaned in to kiss her sweetly on the lips. “And second, although I hate having to say this, we really need to not be close at school until I get a chance to talk to you know who,” he said awkwardly.

The shutters came down over Rory’s eyes in a second and she shifted very deliberately out of his personal space. It was a shame, because it had been so cool when she was smiling at him like that, blushing at his compliments, and everything. Now she was cold as steel as she backed up through her bedroom door, keeping Jess very deliberately on the threshold.

“I have to get ready,” she told him again.

“Rory, don’t make this worse than it is,” he urged her. “You know I want to be with you, I told you that I do, but until I can talk to Francie-”

“Right, I get it, fine,” she snapped. “You have to dump the bitch before you can be seen with me. Message received, loud and clear. Now go away, I have to get ready,” she tried for the third time.

“Okay.” Jess nodded. “I’ll wait here. I mean, I can still drive you to school.”

“Maybe you’d better not,” she told him, shaking her head. “After all, people will talk and then where would we be?” she said, steel in her voice before she slammed the door shut right in his face.

“Rory!” Jess called to her, knocking on the door, even though it was pointless.

When her music clicked on, loud enough to wake the dead, he still continued pounding with his fist and yelling to her that he needed her to understand, but it was all no use. Jess doubted Rory was going to give in or come out of her room at all until he left, so he may as well give her what she wanted. After all, he would see her in school and it wasn’t as if he didn’t plan on talking to her at all, he just didn’t want the rumour mill going into over-drive about them (again!) or Francie’s Puff friends telling her any tales before he had a chance to explain.

“Well,” he muttered to himself as he headed back out to his car, “at least today can’t get any worse.”

* * *

“C’mon, Lem, I know there’s no way in hell you haven’t talked to Francie in all this time, because your head would’ve exploded by now,” said Jess crossly.

Lem’s eyes went wide at the remark and she slammed her locker door, turning to storm away. Jess rolled his eyes and moved down the line to Asia.

“I just want to talk to my girlfriend,” he told her. “Is that too much to ask?”

“Maybe this is her way of telling you that she doesn’t want to talk to you,” said Asia smartly before following Lem down the hall.

“Before you ask,” Ivy advised the moment Jess stepped towards her, “don’t,” she said simply, going along with her friends.

Taking a deep breath so he didn’t say or do something really stupid, Jess turned back down the hall and headed away from the cafeteria. He really wasn’t hungry and sitting in a room with The Puffs was only going to make him more mad. He turned the corner into the next empty hall, not really looking where he was going or paying attention to the world around him in any way. It was how he missed the arm shooting out from the supply closet, fingers grabbing a hold of his blazer and pulling so hard he almost fell.

Jess very quickly found himself with his back against the inside of the supply closet door and his arms full of Rory who was kissing him like her life depended on it. It seemed a lot like a deja vu moment, given how things had gone at his house last night, but after Rory’s attitude at her place this morning, he really hadn’t been expecting this.

“Surprised to see me?” she asked, pulling away from him just long enough for Jess to catch his breath.

“In here? Yes,” he admitted, trying to focus his eyes in the dim light and finding her smiling at him then. “So, I’m guessing I’m forgiven for this morning?”

“There wasn’t really anything to forgive.” Rory shrugged. “I know, I over-reacted. I do that sometimes,” she admitted. “I know you’re just trying to be all noble and the good guy and everything. You’re still with Francie, on a technicality, so we’ll be secretive until you get to talk to her.”

“Okay, cool.” Jess nodded.

“I think so,” Rory agreed, shifting closer to him again. “Besides, secrets can be fun,” she said, just before her lips met his in another searing kiss.

Jess couldn’t exactly say he minded the kissing. Rory was as hot as she was smart and beautiful and interesting, and she really knew how to kiss. It would be a crazy guy of seventeen who turned down the kind of opportunity that she was handing to him here, and yet, Jess was just a little wary.

It wasn’t exactly what Luke had said to him last night about experience and everything. Maybe Jess had only seriously dated one girl and maybe they hadn’t ever gotten quite that far, but he wasn’t exactly averse to the idea, especially with Rory. The problem was what Rory would call his being noble or the good guy or whatever. As easy as it might be to give in, this wasn’t how he wanted his relationship with Rory to be, at least, not entirely. She was special, she should be treated accordingly. Making out in closets was fine, but when things started going a little too far, it was Jess that was the first to say no.

“Rory, stop,” he urged her, sliding from the too small gap between her body and the door, almost sending a couple of mops clattering in the process. “We can’t just... This is not the time and place,” he said definitely, starting to pace the small floor space while he got his bearings.

“Seriously?” she checked, pulling her clothes straight and fixing her hair a little. “Nobody would ever know.”

“I’d know,” Jess told her seriously.

“Oh, right” Rory rolled her eyes. “Can’t go too far until Precious Princess Francie knows she’s dumped.”

“No, that’s not it,” Jess insisted. “Even if I already talked to Francie, you and me... this happened yesterday, Rory. We decided to be together less than twenty-four hours ago, and now we’re... It’s just fast, okay?”

“Fast?” Rory echoed, almost laughing at the very idea. “Wow, and here I thought I was the girl in this relationship.”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“You know what it means, Jess. God, all those speeches we get from the teachers in health class and our parents and everything. ‘Watch out, girls, all boys really want from you is your body.’ I mean, it’s not like I thought that about you, but I at least thought... You said you liked me.”

“I do like you, a lot,” said Jess, coming towards her again, reaching for her hand but she snatched it away. “Rory, come on. I’m trying to be the good guy here. I just don’t want it to be this way,” he said, gesturing vaguely to their surroundings. “I don’t want to use you and, honestly? I don’t want you to use me either. Is that so wrong?”

She wanted to argue some more. Jess could see it in her eyes even in the half-dark, but Rory didn’t have any words for him, presumably because she just realised he was right. It was almost heart-breaking to realise that the problem wasn’t how much Rory liked Jess or how much he liked her. The problem was how little she seemed to think of herself.

“Come on,” he said then, running a hand back through his hair. “Let’s go get some lunch or something.”

Rory shook her head. “You go get some lunch,” she told him. “I’m not hungry.”

The next thing he knew she had torn open the door and rushed away from him, leaving Jess unsure which direction she had even taken. They weren’t even officially dating yet and already he felt as if he had screwed up royally at least twice. One thing was for sure, dating Rory Gilmore was definitely not going to be boring.


	19. Chapter 19

Jess was glad to find the house empty when he got home. Luke had left a note on the fridge, telling him he would be at the diner until late due to staffing issues, but not to rush over to help - homework came first. As if Jess didn’t know that already. Not that he expected to be able to concentrate on any kind of studying, his brain was way too busy thinking about Rory and Francie and the huge mess he was making of his love life.

Jess sat down at the kitchen table and put his head in his hands. He had to get this all figured out, sooner rather than later. Christmas break was coming up fast, he had to have dealt with Francie before then, and ideally, he needed to fix things with Rory too. It was all getting very out of hand.

Reaching into his bag, Jess pulled out a legal pad and a pen, making a fast decision and starting to scribble out a letter to Francie. Having thought about it over and over for days, maybe even weeks now, to varying degrees, he knew exactly what needed to be said. They were over, that was the basic gist. They probably shouldn’t ever have been together really, because they didn’t fit. It was stupid, but now they were done. It was the way it had to be.

There were a couple of moments when the flow of words from Jess’ pen stopped and he gave some serious thought to what he was saying next. He wasn’t sure whether to mention Rory or not. If he was going for all-out honesty, a large part of why this was happening now was because of her. He and Francie might have limped on a while longer if Rory Gilmore had never come into their lives, but if he wrote that, if he implied that this relationship was over primarily so he could start a new one, Jess knew what that would mean. Francie would take out all her ire on Rory rather than him, and though Jess was sure that Rory could more than handle it, as she had already proved, he didn’t want to be the cause of any more problems for her. He left Rory out of the letter altogether.

As soon as he was done writing, Jess hunted down an envelope from the desk, shoving the folded pages inside before he had a chance to change his mind about any of the words he had used. He wrote Francie’s name on the front, and today’s date and time in the corner, so there was no doubt about when this information was being sent.

Inside of five minutes, Jess was back in his car driving towards Hartford. Within a half hour, he was in the driveway of the Jarvises home, envelope clutched in his hand about to slide it into the mailbox and declare this whole thing over.

It was strange how a feeling of hesitation washed over him, not because he wasn’t sure that breaking up with Francie was the right thing, he knew it was, because he also knew he only wanted Rory. The problem was how Jess was doing this, the things that could go wrong with the plan. He really would have felt better if he could talk to Francie directly, or at least put the letter into her hand.

Maybe God or Fate or whoever watched over the world was listening to Jess’ thoughts, or so he figured, since a second before he actually managed to put the letter into the mailbox, the front door opened and a familiar figure stood there, arms folded across her chest.

Jogging up the path to meet her, Jess took a deep breath before he spoke.

“Hey.”

“Hello,” she replied, looking less than thrilled by the sight of him.

Jess didn’t care. He was only happy to see Francie in person so he could do this the way it should be done. That and he was kind of glad to see no real sign of injury on her anymore after the fight with Rory. As much as he didn’t like Francie right now and did believe she pretty much deserved what she got in the tussle, Jess didn’t hate her. He cared about her in some weird way, before if not now, and would prefer her not to be hurt too badly, if possible.

“I’m glad you’re here,” she said, smiling slightly. “I’ve come to a decision about you and me.”

“Weird coincidence,” said Jess, nodding his head. “Me too, and now you can read all about it,” he said, thrusting the envelope at her.

She seemed to take it more by instinct than design, and by the time she looked up from reading the words written on it, Jess was already half way back to his car.

“Jess Danes, you come back here!” she called after him, presumably already figuring out that he beat her to the punch, dumping her before she could dump him.

“No,” he called over his shoulder, not looking back until he had the driver’s side door open. “Read the letter, Francie,” he urged her, loud enough to be clearly heard, “please.”

He didn’t really know what he expected her to say or do then. Jess wasn’t sure if he wanted her to care that they were over or not. All he knew for sure was that he didn’t care, not at all, not anymore. Without another word, he got into his car and drove right back to Stars Hollow, breathing more easily than he had in days, sure that he had done the right thing for all concerned, at last.

* * *

It was a last-minute decision not to go straight home. Jess had intended to. He had homework to do, a book to finish reading for class too, then he would need to eat and if he had time left over, he should probably swing by the diner and see if Luke needed a hand, despite what was said in his uncle’s note. Still, Jess couldn’t help himself. He was so close to the Crap Shack, and now all loose ends were effectively tied up with Francie, he really wanted to see Rory, especially after the way they left things at lunch.

Pulling onto the driveway of the Gilmore place, Jess hopped out of the car and rushed up onto the porch, knocking on the door. He knew Rory would be the only one home yet, but gave himself a beat just to verify it was her before grabbing her and kissing her, much as she had done to him two days before on his own doorstep. If her reaction was anything to go by, she was shocked, but not at all disappointed with the greeting. She pulled him inside and closed the door behind them, their arms still locked around each other even when they finally pulled apart from their kiss.

“Wow,” she said breathlessly, though the look on her face suggested she hadn’t meant to to verbalise even that much.

Jess smirked. “I wanna take you out on a real date,” he told her, holding her close still.

“Okay.” Rory nodded, looking a little confused. “But what about Francie?”

“I told her we’re over,” Jess explained. “I wrote it all down, went over to the house, and she was actually there. I put the letter in her hand, she cannot say she didn’t get it or that she doesn’t understand. I was clear. Me and her, we are over,” he said with emphasis, wanting to make sure that Rory understood it as plainly as Francie had too. “Rory, what happened before, in school, I wasn’t... I know it seems stupid to you, but I meant what I said, okay?” he tried to explain. “I want to be with you, but I don’t mean like you and DuGrey, or any other sleazeball you dated before. I... I really care about you. Do you understand that?”

Jess wasn’t sure if he had confused her or overwhelmed her, maybe a little of both, but she didn’t answer him for a while, just stared at him with those big blue eyes that he loved so much already. Eventually, she smiled, and Jess felt something in his heart shift in the best way.

“A real date?” she checked.

“Yes, a real date,” he confirmed definitely. “It might have to be in Winter break or something,” he considered, realising too late that he hadn’t entirely thought this through. “I mean, school is crazy, and the diner, and all the stuff going on in town.”

“Yeah, I have a family thing over in Hartford this week,” Rory recalled regretfully, “and Christmas shopping with Lorelai, and a bunch of school stuff I guess I should get through before break.”

“Okay.” Jess nodded. “So, we’ll figure something out, but we will make it happen, okay?”

“Okay.”

Rory was smiling like her face would split in two as she initiated a kiss of her own this time, only for Jess to almost fall on top of her when the front door opened and shoved him from behind.

In all fairness, Lorelai looked as startled as anyone as she came into the house to find Rory and Jess smooshed into a corner of the hallway, both looking a little weird about something.

“Okay, so what’s going on?” she asked, eyes darting between the two of them.

“Uh, I broke up with Francie,” Jess said as explanation, highly aware that he still had one arm around Rory and it was probably pretty obvious they had been doing more than shaking hands when Lorelai literally stumbled upon them.

“You did? Huh,” she said, nodding her head, still not going anywhere apparently. “So, this is kind of happening now?” she checked, waving her hand in a vague gesture between Rory and Jess.

Though Rory opened her mouth to answer, Jess got there first.

“Is this going to be weird for you?” he checked.

She had to know what he meant, because it was so damn obvious to Jess. He and Lorelai were practically family these days. She had become, if not a mother exactly, certainly a cool aunt figure in his life. If she viewed him the same way, and she had made it clear before that she did, Jess dating Rory might weird her out more than a little.

“Weird for me? Of course not,” she said, literally waving away his concerns and any Rory might have had as well. “Hey, all I want is a happy Rory and a happy Jess. You make each other happy, then I am all for it,” she promised, smiling widely. “Now, I’m just going to move my gooseberry butt right out of this situation,” she said with a wink as she headed towards the kitchen.

Jess felt a wave of relief wash over him, and as much as he was sure she would deny it, Rory seemed more than a little grateful for her mom’s approval too. Of course, that didn’t mean either of them wanted to have the rest of their conversation with Lorelai in range.

Rory took a hold of Jess’ hand, opened the front door and pulled him outside with her. They sat down on the porch seat even as Rory started to shiver from cold. Jess hugged her close and rubbed her arms, about to tell her she really should’ve put on a jacket, but she spoke before he could.

“So,” she said, looking at him, “you’re, like, my boyfriend now, right?” she asked, something between a smirk and a smile playing on her lips, but she was so close that Jess couldn’t focus enough to be clear.

“I guess so,” he told her. “Which would make you my girlfriend. Think you can handle that?”

“Probably.” She shrugged in his grasp. “I’ve been called worse.”

“Oh, yeah?”

“Yeah.”

Both of them were grinning at the joke before their lips met in another amazing kiss.

Jess wasn’t sure if Rory was still feeling cold, but somehow, he doubted it. If she wanted his jacket, she could have it, because he was feeling no pain whatsoever. When she pulled away suddenly, he couldn’t help but be disappointed.

“About before, in school today,” she said, looking almost too seriously. “Thank you for that.”

“For, what?” Jess frowned some. “For not letting you seduce me in a broom closet?” he checked, wondering how the same girl who had done that now suddenly seemed so strangely coy. “Trust me, it was tempting,” he assured her, tucking her hair behind her ear and planting one more sweet kiss on her cheek.

If he hadn’t known better, Jess would’ve sworn there were tears welling in Rory’s kohl-rimmed eyes when she looked at him then.

“I meant, well, thanks for thinking I deserve better than that,” she said fast, taking his face in her hands as she gave him one last lingering kiss.

Before Jess could hardly blink, she was gone, back into the house, the front door clanging behind her. Shaking his head, he got up from the swing and wandered across the porch, giving himself a minute to get his bearings. Dating Rory, being her boyfriend, it was not going to be smooth sailing, that much was already patently clear, but Jess didn’t regret his decisions. He was glad he finally told Francie it was over, and even happier to have Rory in his life, as his girlfriend too. No matter how hard or complicated things got, Lorelai was right, Jess was happy, and it seemed Rory was too. For as long as it lasted, they should make the most of that.


	20. Chapter 20

Rory wasn’t sure what she expected to happen when she showed up at Chilton the next day. If anyone had asked her if she felt okay about facing her class-mates as Jess’ girlfriend, she would’ve said she didn’t care what anyone else thought, because it was none of their damn business. In fact, she said exactly that when both Lorelai and Jess asked the question, but that didn’t mean it was wholly true.

Francie was back now, she had to be since Jess said he handed her a letter that explained to her just how over they really were. No doubt her entourage were on her side and all of them were bound to blame Rory for the break-up, even though it wasn’t really her doing. Rory had to admit, she was just a little proud to have prised Jess away from Francie. More than just a little, actually, but it wasn’t as if she was with him purely to piss off Jarvis and her cronies.

“If she says anything to you-”

“I’ll say something right back,” said Rory definitely, not willing to let Jess be her protector in any of this. “You may be my boyfriend now, but I can still take care of myself,” she told him pointedly.

“I know that,” Jess assured her, picking up her hand in his and squeezing it as they walked across the parking lot that morning.

Of course, the rumour mill would have been in full-swing even without the public display of their hand-holding and the brief kiss they shared as they parted ways to go to their respective classes. Francie must have told everyone her version of events somehow before Rory or Jess had a chance to speak the truth. Once again, Rory Gilmore had the unenviable honour of being the most talked about person in school, with the worst reputation.

“I’ll say this much for you, Gilmore,” Paris Geller told her as they passed each other in the halls, “I like your choice of smackdown victim. Francine Jarvis needed bringing down a peg or two. Nice work.”

“If I’d known how thrilled you’d be Paris, I would’ve done it so much sooner,” said Rory, sarcasm in full evidence, though she could hardly keep from smiling as she headed on to class.

A lot of her fellow students were talking about her behind their hands. Some, like Paris, seemed happy enough to see anyone teach Francie a lesson by not just literally smacking her down before, but now taking her boyfriend from her too. Others were disgusted by such behaviour and sided with the popular red-head who had been their friend or acquaintance much longer than Rory ever had or could be.

Neither opinion meant much to Rory herself. She only cared what Jess thought of her and of this situation. She worried just a little that he would start to believe the gossip, that he might believe she only wanted him to get one over on Francie or just to be centre of attention in school. He ought to know her better than that, but she could hardly blame him if he didn’t. They really hadn’t known each other all that long, and her behaviour where guys was concerned hadn’t exactly been great up to now.

Unfortunately, it was lunch time before they saw each other again, and the cafeteria was buzzing with stories about Rory and Jess by the time they walked in, made evident by all-but silence falling over the room when they made their entrance. When they had to make a decision to stay or go, Jess put his arm around Rory and walked to her usual table without pause. He barely noticed Francie getting up and encouraging her Puff squad to follow her elsewhere.

“Wow. You’ve really got some balls of steel, Jess,” said Louise as she and Madeline slid into seats across from him and Rory.

“I so thought Francie was going to come over here and tear something vital from your body,” said Madeline, shuddering at the thought.

“That would’ve been a real shame,” added Louise with a scandalous look.

“Thanks for the concern, girls,” said Jess, rolling his eyes as he glanced at Rory with a ‘what can you do?’ kind of a look. “You know Rory, right?”

“Sure, she’s all anyone who’s anyone is talking about... again,” said Louise, grinning yet. “First Tristan and now Jess. If I didn’t know I had superior fashion sense, I’d almost wish I was you.”

Rory looked bemused and decided it was safer not to answer that. Usually she would snipe first and think later, but somehow, she didn’t get the feeling that Louise meant to insult her. If anything, she almost got the impression that was a compliment, in a back-handed kind of way.

“You know, it’s weird. I never thought that much black eye make-up could work for anybody,” said Madeline, studying Rory’s face a little too closely for comfort, “but your eyes are so blue, you’re pulling it off. Are you wearing contacts?”

“No, these are my eyes,” said Rory uncertainly.

“Wow. I’m officially jealous,” she told Louise before making a big deal of turning her attention to a very small salad that was apparently her lunch.

Just when Rory felt like she could dare to breathe and drag her lunch from her bag to eat, another tray slammed down onto the table right next to her.

“Hey, aren’t we popular today?” said Jess, completely dead pan as he looked up. “Paris,” he greeted her, nodding once.

“Don’t give me that look, Danes,” she warned him. “My friends are sitting here, so I’m sitting here. It has nothing to do with you. If I have any begrudging respect for you at all, it’s only because you finally developed enough spine to break up with Francine Jarvis.”

“Looks like at least one person thinks I’m a step up,” said Rory, looking from Paris to Jess.

“You’re a million steps up,” he promised her, picking up her hand and kissing it.

“Aww, cute.” Madeline grinned.

Jess rolled his eyes, but Paris rolled hers harder.

Talk between two of the three interlopers turned to other general gossip and then a party they were supposed to be attending on the weekend. Paris seemed mostly interested in whatever book she was reading, though she threw the odd barbed comment at Madeline and Louise here and there.

Neither Rory not Jess were sure if they were supposed to join in at all or just pretend the girls weren’t there. They settled for eating their lunch and casting alternately amused and confused looks at each other until Paris finally said she was done and pretty much commanded her lackies to follow her out.

“That was... weird,” said Rory eventually.

“Agreed.” Jess nodded. “Doesn’t suck having at least some people not hating us though, right?”

He was smiling when Rory turned to look at him, clearly either genuinely happy to have some semblance of friends or trying for a joke that Rory herself didn’t really find very funny. She figured that much at least showed on her face as she watched Jess’ grin disappear.

“Dating me isn’t going to make you popular,” she told him straight. “You should know that already.”

“Rory, I don’t care what people think,” he assured her. “Come on, you know that I could not care less about the opinions of the people in this school. Is it nice to get along with people? Sure, but I’m not gonna go cry in the corner just because a few stupid idiots don’t want to sit with me at lunch or invite me to their dumb party. That’s not me, and I know it’s not you.”

“Okay.” Rory nodded. “So, we’re doing this whole ‘you and me against the world’ thing, huh?”

“I’m not sure it’ll come to that exactly, but if it does, sure.” Jess shrugged easily.

Rory smiled, she couldn’t help it. As much as she tried her best to play it cool, especially where other people could see or hear her, she really did kind of love that Jess was her boyfriend. For a while, she had to admit, part of his attraction was that she couldn’t have him, but it was so much more than that now.

It was still a weird feeling to like somebody so much and to have that same person like her back. Jess was just different to other guys she had been close to. For one thing, he wasn’t all out for sex like some. Not that Rory had a problem with that kind of fun, as she supposed she had proven in her ‘relationship’ with Tristan, but having something real with Jess, it did appeal to her. Maybe she was as crazy as some people thought, after all.

“What?” he asked when he caught her staring.

“Nothing,” she said, shaking her head. “I was just thinking... it doesn’t matter.”

“Come on, tell me what you were thinking,” he urged her, bumping his shoulder gently against hers. “I want to know.”

“Were you serious about taking me out on a real date?” she asked then, eyes fixed on the table as she scratched at the damaged surface with her own damaged nails.

“I was very serious about that,” Jess assured her. “Why? You don’t want to go?”

“No, I do,” Rory told him, looking up fast. “I just... I can’t remember ever really doing that before. You know, the whole real date thing. Mostly I’ve gone out with a whole group of people to a party or the movies or something, not so much one on one. Me and guys... I don’t know, I’ve never really been all that serious about one before.”

It didn’t entirely sit well with Jess when he was forced to think about Rory’s dating history, for lack of a better term. The fact that she less dated and more had a lot of sex bothered him more than he would like, especially knowing that DuGrey was probably the last guy she got that close to.

Jess knew that Rory appreciated the fact he wasn’t just with her for that, he made sure that she knew exactly what his motives were with her because it mattered to him. Someday he was going to have to explain to her the other half of the reason why he wasn’t prepared to leap into bed with her at a moment’s notice, but today was not that day, and the school cafeteria would never be the place!

“What?” asked Rory. “Now you’re the one with the weird look on your face.”

“Sorry.” Jess shook his head. “Today is just a weird day. Transitioning into this thing between us, with the whole damn school staring and judging all the time? It’s not exactly ideal.”

“Well, why don’t we go somewhere a little less exposed for a while?” Rory suggested.

Jess’ eyes widened just a little bit, wondering what exactly she meant by that and clearly jumping to the wrong conclusion. It wasn’t surprising, given where his brain had just wandered off to, but Rory was completely unaware of that.

“I’m thinking library,” she said, getting up and holding out her hand for him to take. “I don’t know about you, but I’m in the mood for... Salinger.”

“ _Catcher in the Rye_?”

“Hmm, _Franny & Zooey_.”

Jess smiled as he took Rory’s hand and stood up beside her. “Let’s go.”

* * *

“I keep half-expecting the phone to ring and it to be Headmaster Charleston telling me Rory got into another fist fight with some other girl and now she’s expelled,” said Lorelai, her hand on her forehead. “Jess doesn’t have any other exes there, right?”

“Not that I know of.” Luke shook his head, frowning some. “Even if he did, why would Rory be fighting them all?”

“I don’t know, because she’s Rory?” Lorelai shrugged. “Ugh, I hate that this is what I expect from my daughter. I’m actually sitting here wondering how many girls she’s threatened with bodily harm today. That’s not normal.”

“Lorelai, breathe,” Luke urged her, leaning over the counter to put his hand on her arm. “I’m sure Rory and Jess are both fine. He is not Hugh Hefner, there is no long line of girls who will want to fight Rory for his honour, or whatever else you’re thinking, and I’m sure she has enough self-control not to punch anybody just for looking at her boyfriend.”

Lorelai frowned. “You smiled when you said that.”

“No, I didn’t,” Luke insisted.

“Yes, you did. When you said ‘boyfriend’ there was a weird smile. You really, really like them dating.”

“You said you were okay with it. I know you did because Jess told me about it.”

“I am okay with it,” Lorelai insisted. “When they’re here, I’m totally okay, but now they’re out there, at Chilton, with people.”

“You’re being irrational,” Luke told her, pouring more coffee into her cup. “I know I have been known to call you Crazy Lady, but this is bad, even for you.”

Lorelai put her head in her hands for a moment and took a couple of good deep breaths. She knew Luke had a point, she was being extra crazy today, and it wasn’t all about Rory and Jess either.

“I’m feeling edgy, I can’t help it,” she admitted, finally looking up again. “This Friday, Rory and I have to go to dinner... in Hartford... with my parents.”

Luke made a face, unsure what he was supposed to say to make that situation any better. He wondered if anyone or anything ever could.

“You _have_ to go?” he checked.

“Well, technically, no. Nobody’s going to put a gun to my head and frog march me to the door or anything,” she admitted, sipping her coffee, “but they plan to go away for Christmas and they want to see both of us before they leave, plus Rory kind of wants to see them too, I think. Ugh, it’s going to be so bad,” she said, letting her head fall back onto the counter with a clunk.

Luke winced on her behalf. If he could make her feel any better, he absolutely would, but she already had coffee and he didn’t have any brownies to hand. Beyond that, he was a little out of ideas on this one, at least, at first.

“What are you doing for the actual day?” he asked then.

Lorelai looked up at him, pouting just a little. “Christmas Day? I don’t know, why?”

“Well, I know Thanksgiving didn’t go all that well, but I was thinking, if you wanted to, you girls could come over again, even if it’s just for dinner. I mean, you don’t cook and I know last year you went to Sookie, but you have Rory now, and with her and Jess being close... It was just an idea,” he said, unsure what to make of the expression on Lorelai’s face right now.

All of a sudden, she blew a piece of stray hair very hard until it shifted from in front of her eyes, and then she smiled.

“You are saintly, Luke Danes,” she told him, grinning wide. “I would love it if me and Rory could spend Christmas with you and Jess, but I have one condition,” she said, holding up one finger to demonstrate her point. “How about you come to us this time?”

“Um, okay.” Luke nodded. “I was just thinking of the food-”

“Oh, you can totally bring the food and cook it in my kitchen,” said Lorelai, waving away his concerns immediately, making Luke laugh. “Seriously though, Luke,” she added then, her hands covering both of his on the counter. “I really appreciate that you’re always trying to help me out, especially since Rory came to live here,” she told him sincerely. “You are just the best friend a girl could have... _ever._ ”

Luke nodded and even forced a smile, but he didn’t have words to answer that. Of course, Lorelai saw him as her best friend. What else would he possibly be?


	21. Chapter 21

“Well, this is going to be fun,” said Lorelai with the fakest smile she had ever worn.

“You didn’t have to come,” Rory told her with an edge to her tone not much heard in the last few weeks.

Honestly, they had been getting along so much better lately. Lorelai was really starting to feel like she and Rory were building a strong connection, a real mother-daughter relationship. It was never going to be easy or instantaneous, they had a lot of time to make up, and Lorelai had a lot of trust to earn back, but they’d got into a rhythm lately, a good place, at least until now.

Emily and Richard were not the problem but more like the catalyst for it. They were symbolic of the issues that had existed, and probably always would on some level, between Lorelai and Rory. Coming to this house, where they had both grown up, where all the lies and deceit had begun, it just put more strain on the fragile status quo the Gilmore girls had recently built between them. Unfortunately, it was all unavoidable. Rory still loved her grandparents and Lorelai still loved her parents too, tough as it was to be around them. So, here they were, because it was almost Christmas, and nothing said the festive season like a family meal.

“Are you going to knock?” Rory asked then.

“You have a key, right?” Lorelai countered.

Rory squirmed and then shrugged. “I don’t live here right now,” she pointed out. “We should probably knock.”

“Or ring the bell,” Lorelai considered.

It had been different when they dropped by for Rory’s birthday. Richard had been at the door to greet them then, eager to welcome his granddaughter home, even if it was just for an hour or two. Emily had been in the room for maybe a total of ten minutes in the entire visit, seemingly determined to find excuse after excuse to be elsewhere. Phone calls, important conferences with the maid, trips to the bathroom, anything and everything she could do to avoid talking to her daughter or granddaughter. Richard made an effort, but it was tough going. Lorelai had avoided coming back ever since, having Rory make the trip alone if she wanted to visit, until now.

This time, Emily had made the invitation herself and frankly insisted on seeing both girls. Maybe she finally got over herself, but Lorelai just couldn’t see it happening. As she rang the bell at last, she took in a deep breath and steeled herself for whatever came next. Still, she wasn’t quite ready for the overly cheery smile she received from her mother when a maid finally ushered them into the foyer.

“Hey, Mom.” Lorelai smiled back at her, hoping that was the right thing to do. “How’re you doing?”

“Well, I’m doing just fine, Lorelai. Why wouldn’t I be?” she asked acidly.

“No reason I can think of.” Lorelai shrugged. “We’re fine too, if you were wondering.”

“I might have asked if given the opportunity,” her mother told her, looking to Rory next. “I see you’re still insisting on imitating a panda with your make up,” she said, shaking her head. “Honestly, why such a pretty girl would want to do such a thing,” she muttered as she walked away from them into the living room, presumably expecting them to automatically follow.

“Still glad you came?” Lorelai muttered to Rory.

She refused to acknowledge that with an answer, but couldn’t say she had any regrets when Richard suddenly appeared, complete with warm smile and the offer of drinks. It was strange because Rory knew she should be as mad at him as she was Emily or Lorelai, but somehow, she wasn’t. All three told her the same lies as a child, pretending the grandparents were her parents and everything, but somehow it was always easier to blame her fellow Gilmore girls than to be mad at the only father figure in the life.

They had a lot in common, she supposed, and Rory attributed a lot of her love of books to the man she started out calling Daddy and was now supposed to see as Grandpa. He was always the one to ask how school was going and seem like he really was interested in the answer too. He asked now and Rory felt herself smiling before she could even remind herself that it was probably better not to.

Of course, within two minutes, Emily was dominating conversation again, picking holes in Lorelai and then Rory, one after the other. Acid-laced, steel-lined comments about their clothes and their makeup and the way they were living right now. In answer to Lorelai’s question, though she never formally gave it, Rory would have to say no, she wasn’t at all glad that she had come to the place she used to call home.

When dinner was done, and small gifts had been exchanged, which were not supposed to be unwrapped until Christmas Day itself, Rory and Lorelai finally left. Richard hugged them both, awkwardly as he had ever done anything, and wished them both a Merry Christmas. Emily followed suit though she looked much less like she meant it.

“Well, turn up the heat a little and I think we could’ve passed that off as Dante’s ninth circle,” said Lorelai, the moment the door closed behind them.

“Can’t even say it was worth it for the gift.” Rory frowned at the package in her hands. “I’m pretty sure this is bath salts.”

She proffered the wrapped box at Lorelai who sniffed cautiously.

“Ugh, the kind that’ll make you smell like Gran too,” she said wincing. “Well, with my luck, this’ll be a kitchen appliance I’ll never use,” she said of her own gift, “or a pack of ‘sensible’ underwear.”

“Eew.” Rory made a face.

“Who knows with the great Emily Gilmore?”

Lorelai watched the smirk that was very nearly a smile appear on Rory’s face and tried not to grin herself. It probably wasn’t healthy that they were bonding over a mutual dislike of their treatment at the hands of their ‘mother’ but she would take what she could get. At least Lorelai understood why Emily was mad at her. Rory was the victim in all of this, and didn’t deserve any of the pain she suffered.

“So, what do you say, kid? Back to the Crap Shack for ice-cream and some kind of bad movie marathon maybe?”

“Yeah.” Rory nodded, heading to the passenger side of the car. “Let’s go home.”

Lorelai stopped walking for a second, the shock of what she just heard throwing her for a loop, but in the nicest way.

“Home is good,” she said too softly as she finally remembered how to move again.

It was the first time she had ever heard Rory refer to her house that way, and it felt good.

* * *

With the dreaded visit to the Gilmore elders well and truly behind them, Lorelai and Rory could both look forward to Christmas in Stars Hollow. Mostly, Rory was all about the break from school and the chance to finally get her real date with Jess, but before their night of alone time could be arranged, there was Christmas Day itself to get through.

“Did they learn nothing from Thanksgiving?” she asked Jess as they walked across the square together. “Make-shift family events clearly do not work for us.”

“To be fair, you and me were not in a good place four weeks ago,” he considered. “They know we’re okay now.”

“I kind of thought we were better than okay,” said Rory, leaning into his side a little more.

“Well, maybe we are.” Jess smiled down at her, kissing the top of her head. “You do know that just about everybody is talking about us, right?”

“Do you care?” she asked, perhaps a little more seriously than she really needed to.

“You seriously think I would?”

“I don’t know.” She shrugged from beneath his arm. “You kind of have a reputation in this town, a real angelic one,” she said, giggling a little. “I’m not good for that.”

Jess stopped walking, turning Rory into his embrace and holding on tight.

“Rory, you are my girlfriend and I’m happy about that. If anyone in this town has a problem then they can deal with that however they want, but it is not going to make me feel any differently about you, okay?”

“You sure about that?” she asked, eyes tracking a couple of older ladies who went by staring and talking behind their hands.

Jess turned to see what she was looking at then faced her again, rolling his eyes.

“You’re cracked if you think I care about that,” he told her.

“Actions speak louder than words,” she quoted, lifting her chin as her eyes sparkled with the challenge.

“Is that so?” said Jess, smiling as he moved in closer.

“It’s what I heard.” Rory nodded slightly, just before his lips covered her own.

“Disgusting!”

Jess and Rory pulled apart in time to see Mrs Kim scurrying by them, dragging her daughter behind her.

“I kinda feel sorry for her,” said Rory with a sigh.

“Lane?”

“Yeah. I’ve seen her around town and her mom is always yelling at her or pulling her by the arm or something. None of my family are saints but even Emily wouldn’t go _that_ far.”

“I guess in the parents stakes we could both be worse off,” Jess considered. “I think we lucked out with Luke and Lorelai at least. You two are getting along better now, right?” he checked as they started walking again.

“I guess,” Rory agreed. “I actually bought her a Christmas gift.”

“Huh.”

* * *

“Okay, so I don’t wanna jinx this, but I feel like today is going really, really well,” said Lorelai in an excited whisper as she joined Luke in the kitchen. “I kind of thought Rory’s first Christmas away from the home she has always known would be tough on her, but she seems happy, right?”

“She really does actually,” Luke agreed, moving to pull the turkey out from the oven and baste some more. “I think her and Jess getting closer has helped. He’s a good influence on her.”

“Yeah, that’s probably true.” Lorelai nodded. “Though I was kind of hoping that maybe I was being a good influence too.”

When Luke turned around and saw the dejected look on her face, he immediately felt bad. He really hadn’t meant to imply that Jess was the only reason Rory was happier these days, he just figured that being in that new relationship was helping.

“Lorelai, you’re doing a great job with Rory,” he promised her, keeping his voice as low as hers, mindful that the kids were only in the living room and might hear. “She’s come a long way in a few months. I mean, sure, she can still be a little... prickly, but she’s calmed down a lot lately. She definitely seems happier.”

“She does, doesn’t she? And you know the whole thing with her buying me this bracelet and everything, I feel like the Rory who came here in August never would’ve been so thoughtful. She must like me a little, right? I mean, her feeling happier and more comfortable here, I have to be some small part of that.” Lorelai sighed, almost as if she didn’t really believe it as she stared through at Rory and Jess messing around on the couch.

Luke’s hand on her arm got her attention back in a moment.

“You are a _big_ part of that,” he promised, his gaze locking onto hers. “Lorelai, the kid just needed to know somebody cared. From what you told me, the grandparents kind of gave up on her when the truth got out, sending her off to boarding school and everything. Now she has you, and Jess, and me. We’re all doing our best to make her feel like she belongs somewhere. Who wouldn’t be happy with that? Come on, who wouldn’t be happy to have you on their side?”

Lorelai smiled even as tears welled up in her eyes.

“You know, you can be a real sweetheart sometimes, Luke Danes.”

At that, he smiled too, and then rolled his eyes.

“Yeah, well, don’t tell anybody else that,” he urged her. “They’ll all expect me to be nice to them, and that’s not happening.”

“If you can be nice to me, why not anyone else?” she asked, even as he turned back to the stove and continued prepping dinner.

“You’re special,” he told her, wincing to himself as he realised how that sounded.

Not that it wasn’t true, of course. Lorelai was very special, but he usually caught himself before he told her stuff like that. It always seemed safer that way.

“You’re special to me too, Luke, you know that,” she said behind him. “Like I told you before, you’re my best friend.”

He didn’t have words to answer that and was glad not to have to as Lorelai left the room. Luke literally jumped when he turned around to find she had come straight back, seemingly in completely silence somehow.

“I know we said gifts for each other were unnecessary,” she said, gripping a small bag in her hands, “but I saw it and I couldn’t resist,” she explained. “Besides, you’re doing all the cooking and everything, it seemed only right.”

With that, she held the gift bag out at arm’s length towards Luke and waited for him to take it. He looked at her and then at the bag with a wary eye, then picked it out of her hands, peering in to see what was so special that she just had to buy it for him. He smirked when he realised what it was, looking up when he heard Lorelai giggle.

“Come on, you’ve had this one since before I even met you,” she said, moving closer and pulling the battered green hat from his head. “You needed a new one.”

“Maybe it is time,” Luke admitted, trying not to react too obviously at how close Lorelai was standing now.

“May I?” she asked, reaching for the new cap that poked out of the bag in his hands.

“Sure,” he agreed, then ceased breathing altogether as Lorelai grabbed the new blue hat and planted it on his head with the peak facing forward.

“Wow, that is all kinds of wrong,” she declared, immediately taking the hat back off, turning it around, and replacing it. “Perfect,” she said when she was done. “I knew blue was your colour.”

“Thanks.”

They stood there just smiling at each other like idiots for maybe a minute, both seemingly contemplating what was supposed to happen next, until Jess yelled to Luke from the living room, asking what time dinner would be ready. The spell was broken.

Lorelai was suddenly in motion, rushing around, mumbling about setting the table, and Rory and Jess came into the kitchen with their arms around each other, seeking a response to his question that had been left unanswered so far. Luke shook his head to clear the fog that had settled and told the kids they had an hour to wait yet. They didn’t seem to mind too much if the smiles on their faces were anything to go by.

“Thanks for this, Luke,” said Rory, quite unexpectedly. “I think, without you, Christmas dinner would’ve been leftover Chinese food, with Mallomars for dessert, which is fine any other day, but it’s not exactly special.”

“You’re welcome, Rory. I’m glad to help you and your mom have a good Christmas.”

The moment Rory and Jess were gone back into the living room, Luke wandered out to see Lorelai fussing over the table, seeming to deliberately keep her back to him at all costs. His hand strayed to the hat on his head and he smiled to himself. Maybe he and Lorelai had lost a moment, but something about today gave him hope that it wasn’t the only one they would ever have. Things were definitely changing around here and in all kinds of ways. Maybe next time would be different.


	22. Chapter 22

Christmas actually went pretty smoothly, which surprised Rory more than a little. The four of them around the table found quite a lot to talk about, sharing jokes and stories, as they ate the good meal that Luke had cooked. They spent the rest of the day sprawled out in the living room, watching TV, reading books, and just being.

After so many years of formal dinners with strangers or foreign vacations to places that didn’t even hardly acknowledge that it was the holidays, it had made a really nice change for Rory. Not that she was exactly effusive about the good time she had, though she made sure to thank Luke and Lorelai for their efforts.

The best part of Christmas Day itself had been Jess. When he and Luke were set to leave, Jess took Rory out on the porch to say goodnight, making a big deal of thanking her for the book she had bought him and kissing her like he meant it. Before she could hardly catch her breath from that, he met her eyes, hands holding her face as he spoke softly.

“Friday, seven o’clock.”

Rory wasn’t sure what he meant for a moment and then it hit her and she smiled.

“Are you asking me out on a date, Jess Danes?” she asked him, playing coy, which she did pretty well despite the fact it really wasn’t her.

“The first of many, I hope,” he told her, smiling widely. “So, that’s a yes?”

“It’s a yes,” Rory agreed, nodding her head. “Where are we going anyway?”

“That is a surprise,” he said, kissing her nose before suddenly backing up a step. “But it’ll be special, I guarantee.”

Rory hadn’t known what to say to that, she simply just did not have words. Nobody ever took her out on a special date before, or any kind of date really. It really wasn’t her style in the past. Guys like Jess were not exactly her type, she supposed, but she did really like him.

Of course, as Friday drew ever closer, Rory’s thoughts on their first date shifted from happy and excited to nervous and uncomfortable. She didn’t know where they were going or what they were doing, and Jess refused to tell her, claiming it was a surprise he wasn’t prepared to ruin. Rory wasn’t a hundred percent sure she would feel any better if she did know the location or the plan, but it might’ve helped.

“Damn it!” she cursed when the coffee grounds spilled all over the floor. “Why am I such an idiot?!” she yelled at herself, slamming the cabinet door shut with a clatter.

“Ooh, clean up in aisle five,” said Lorelai as she stepped into the kitchen, still fastening an earring. “Don’t worry, hon, it happens to us all,” she said then, seeing how over-the-top upset Rory seemed.

“I’m just so stupid,” she muttered to herself as she crouched on the ground and started gathering up the coffee.

“Babe, it was an accident, it happens. You’re not stupid,” Lorelai insisted, getting down on her knees alongside her daughter.

There were actual tears in Rory’s eyes by now and it made her worry. Nobody got that upset over spilled coffee, or spilled anything, truth be told. This had to be about more than that, though broaching the subject probably wasn’t going to be any fun.

“So, you wanna tell me what this is really about?” she asked carefully, eyes on the floor yet. “I mean, you don’t have to tell me, I was just thinking maybe I could help a little. My advice hasn’t proved so bad up to now, right?”

Rory sighed and sat back on her haunches. She looked from the floor to Lorelai and back, wiping at one leaking eye when she hoped her mom wasn’t looking. Maybe she could talk to her about Jess and the whole date thing. She had proved she could be both trusted with the information and good with the advice. Besides, what other choices did she really have?

“I’m going out with Jess on Friday night,” she muttered.

“Okay.” Lorelai nodded, looking as confused as she probably felt. “You going anywhere special?”

“I don’t know.” Rory shrugged. “It’s our first real date, so... yeah, I guess.”

It took a minute for Lorelai to realise the significance of what her daughter was telling her. This wasn’t just about a first date with a boy, and it sure as hell wasn’t likely to be a ‘birds and bees’ kind of a thing, since Lorelai was pretty certain Rory had all of that information. Something was up though.

“You don’t wanna go on a date with your boyfriend?” she said, standing up when Rory did so. “You don’t like dates?”

“I never had one, okay?” Rory snapped. “I never... I never had a real boyfriend, not like Jess. He’s just different.”

She turned away but realised she had nowhere to run except out of the back door into the cold. Getting to her room meant pushing past Lorelai and though she could do it, she sort of felt like that would be the wrong thing. After all, she was looking for some advice, no matter how embarrassing the situation.

“Oh.” Lorelai nodded once. “Plenty of guy experience, not a lot of actual dating experience,” she said more to herself than to Rory. “I get it. First of all, I gotta say I hate that you never had a nice guy in your life before, hon.”

“I’ve known nice guys.” Rory rolled her eyes dramatically. “Just not like Jess,” she admitted. “It’s like he wants to treat me like a princess or something and that’s not me. I don’t even know if I want it to be me, but I kind of want this date, because it seems like it’ll be cool and... and I really like him.”

It was as vulnerable as Lorelai had ever seen her daughter, and that included the time she had cried her eyes out in her arms a few weeks back. That had been raw pain and anguish, but this was something else. This was like Rory putting her heart out into the room for her mother to see, telling her secrets she would never normally tell anyone. She was afraid of screwing up with Jess because she genuinely liked him that much, and because, for once, she was completely out of her depth.

“Babe, did you ever think that maybe Jess is just as nervous about this whole thing as you are?” she said gently. “I mean, sure, he knows how to take a girl out on a date, but he never went out with you before. That nasty Francie Jarvis, that wasn’t real, he didn’t really care about her. I can see how much he cares for you and, well, babe, you’re quite the force to be reckoned with,” she said with a smile. “He knows dates, but you probably know other stuff that he doesn’t and that could make him nervous too.”

Lorelai realised too late that she was not entirely comfortable thinking about the sexual experience of either her daughter or her daughter’s boyfriend. She also wasn’t sure if she was saying the right things to make Rory feel better, she just had to hope that she was. So far, motherhood was proving to be as much of a minefield as she feared it might be, and how she hadn’t lost a foot yet, Lorelai couldn’t possibly say.

Rory heaved a huge sigh. “He is a little weird about... other stuff,” she said vaguely. “But this whole date thing... I don’t know. I don’t wanna turn myself into... well, anything that’s not me.”

“And I don’t think you should do that either,” Lorelai assured her. “Jess likes you because you’re you, Rory. He wouldn’t want you to change for him, I’m sure of it.”

“Maybe, but I know for a fact they don’t let you in anywhere fancy dressed like this,” she said, gesturing to her mostly black attire that was all a little rock chick for a nice restaurant or wherever else Jess might have planned a special first date.

“I can help with the outfit and the makeup and everything, if you want,” said Lorelai hopefully. “In fact, I’d love to do it.”

Rory nodded her head and muttered a thanks that was barely audible. Reluctant as she might seem about it all, Lorelai didn’t care. She felt like she was getting a chance to be a mom right now, and that was all she ever wanted.

* * *

Jess felt just a little apprehensive as he approached the front door of the Gilmore girls’ house. His first date with Rory ought to be special and he felt pretty confident about that when he booked a table at the best restaurant he could afford in the Hollow. Now he was starting to worry about things, like the staff not letting them in because Rory wasn’t dressed to their standards, or her just hating the whole idea of a fancy dinner.

The worries and fears all evaporated a minute later when his knock on the door was answered by Rory herself.

“Wow,” he said, taking in the sight of her in a knee length red and black dress with her hair curled and mostly pinned up. “Hi.”

“Hey,” she replied, shifting awkwardly in place. “I was gonna ask if I went overboard but look at you,” she said, gesturing at the pants and jacket he was wearing. “Any more handsome and you’d be James Bond.”

“Probably not a bad thing,” said Jess, still a little taken aback by Rory herself. “You look amazing.”

“Better than usual?” she checked.

Jess opened his mouth to answer and then second-guessed himself. If he said yes, that was insulting the way she normally dressed, but if he said no, it seemed as if any effort she made hadn’t been worth it.

“You look different,” he went with instead. “I love how you usually look,” he clarified, “but for tonight, this works,” he assured her.

That seemed like the right answer when Rory smiled, reaching around the door for a coat and pulling it on. Jess was pretty sure it actually belonged to Lorelai, though he had never seen the dress before. For all that it was fancy restaurant appropriate, it still looked right on her, just edgy enough to be pure Rory.

“You really like the dress, huh?” she said, catching him staring.

“I really like the girl who’s wearing it,” he told her, stealing a kiss.

“Good to know,” she replied, smiling as they headed off on their first date at last.

* * *

Lorelai had watched from her bedroom window as Jess and Rory left for their date. The last thing she wanted to do was embarrass either of them in what seemed to be a big moment, so she kept an eye on them from afar, glad to see them all cute and close with their arms around each other as they walked down the driveway. She did kind of wish she could’ve seen or heard Jess’ reaction to Rory’s new look, but she figured maybe she could find out later.

It was so cool to have her daughter opening up to her at last, even if only a little bit. As she went with Rory to pick out the perfect dress at the store yesterday and helped her do something special with her hair tonight, Lorelai managed to get a little info out of the kid on how much she liked Jess and also how school was going and everything. It sounded as if she was finally making friends, she even liked a couple of her teachers. It made Lorelai proud to know that she was succeeding in keeping her daughter on the straight and narrow when Emily and Richard failed. Okay, so some of the change in Rory was down to Jess, but Lorelai had to play a part too, even Luke had said so.

“And on the subject of Luke...”

Running down stairs, Lorelai reached for the phone and immediately dialled the diner.

“Luke’s Diner.”

“Oh, you’re not Luke,” she said, shaking her head. “Is he around?”

“Sorry, he just left. Can I take a message?”

“Um, no thanks, Caesar. It’s fine.”

Hanging up the phone, Lorelai huffed out a sigh, then spun around at the sound of knocking on her front door. She was pleasantly surprised by who she found on her doorstep.

“Hey, I just tried to call you,” she told Luke. “I know I said I was gonna wait to get all post-date info out of Rory, but I can’t help myself. Where are they going?” she asked all in a rush.

“Jess has a table booked at Andoloro’s,” Luke told her. “Please tell me you’re not gonna go there and spy on them.”

“Luke, seriously?” Lorelai gasped. “You think I’m that pathetic?”

“I think you worry that much about those two dating.”

“Hmm, well, maybe I did at first,” she considered, “but it’s different now. She’s so happy, Luke. Like, really, really happy, especially when she’s with him.”

“He seems pretty happy too,” Luke replied, smiling as much as she was. “I honestly think they’re good for each other.”

“Yeah, seems that way, doesn’t it? Must be nice to find that one person that just balances you out and makes you that happy.”

There was a long pause in which Luke said nothing and Lorelai had a chance to realise he had a box in his hands. She must have stared at it enough for him to notice because suddenly he was explaining the point of his visit.

“Oh, yeah, I have this batch of brownies that got way too much cocoa in them. Baking accident, you know? I can’t sell them, so I thought I’d bring them over to you. I mean, you have that superhuman tolerance for chocolate, right?”

“Yes, sir, and I’m proud of it too,” Lorelai told him happily taking the box from his hands. “Thanks, Luke. Um, did you wanna come in for a while, maybe risk one of your own super-chocolate brownies?” she offered. “I mean, it feels a little weird being home alone after having Rory here so much. If you have the time, we could watch a movie or something, if you want?”

“A movie?” Luke echoed. “Um, okay, sure,” he said eventually, his smile growing ever wider as he followed Lorelai inside.

This was not at all what he expected, but he wasn’t complaining, that was for sure.

* * *

“So, is this what you expected?” asked Jess from across the table.

“Not exactly,” Rory admitted, “but I’m not complaining,” she assured him with a smile.

When they came in, the hostess actually smiled at them, shook hands with Jess and welcomed him like she knew him. Maybe she did, Rory wasn’t sure. Nobody treated her like she shouldn’t be there, which was something. She knew how to behave in fancy places, of course she did, she was raised that way for years, but Rory knew that the Gilmore elders way of behaving was too much for most people, and with her own habit of rebelling so far from what was expected, it left Rory a little lost as to what ‘normal’ really was these days. Lorelai told her to just act naturally, but even that seemed to elude Rory at first.

After a while in Jess’ company, she relaxed, much like she always did. They talked about books and school and all the things they usually talked about, and he looked at her in that way he had that turned her insides to mush. Rory never thought she would want to feel so goofy over a guy, but for Jess she was willing to make an exception, maybe a lot of exceptions.

“What?” he asked when he caught her staring.

“Nothing,” she said, shrugging her shoulders. “If I told you, you’d just get a fat head.”

Of all things, Jess almost seemed to be blushing at the very idea of Rory complimenting him overly much in her head, and that just made him even more attractive somehow.

“You know, if somebody told me six months ago, I’d be sitting in a nice restaurant with some 4.0 prep school guy, eating the best lasagne I ever tasted, and actually wanting to be there, I would’ve laughed in their face,” said Rory, shaking her head. “I never expected to like Stars Hollow at all.”

“But you do,” said Jess, a statement not a question because he already knew it to be true.

“I guess so.” Rory sighed. “Lorelai is actually pretty cool, and Luke, I like him too. School is bearable and I actually don’t hate all of the teachers. Plus, you’re not so bad either,” she said with a wicked smirk.

“High praise.” Jess rolled his eyes. “For what it’s worth, I did not see this coming either. I mean, Luke told me Lorelai’s teenage daughter was coming to town and I was pretty stunned she even had one, but... I don’t know, from the moment I met you, Rory, something changed,” he told her, his hand covering hers on the table. “I know you probably think I’m just some corny idiot saying this stuff to you-”

“I don’t,” she assured him quickly. “I mean, yeah, it’s a little corny, but if you mean it, then it’s cool.”

“I mean it,” he promised, meeting her gaze. “You believe me, don’t you?”

Rory stared back into his eyes for a moment and then she smiled.

“I believe you,” she said then, nodding her head.

Jess smiled too because he knew what a big deal that was for her to say. If she believed in what he said then she trusted his word, she trusted him, and Rory Gilmore had reasons enough to not trust easily. He leaned in to kiss her and she met him half-way, the both of them smiling when they parted.

Jess didn’t have much more experience of first dates than Rory did, but he had to think that, all in all, this was a pretty damn good one.


	23. Chapter 23

When Rory got home on Friday night it was pretty late, just five minutes inside of her extended curfew actually, though Lorelai suspected she only made that because Jess insisted on it. Lorelai stepped out of the kitchen when she heard her daughter coming in, coffee in hand, to see Rory grinning impossibly wide, her back against the now closed front door.

“So, the date went well?”

“The date went well. Right now, I’m not even really sure why I was worried.” Rory sighed, pushing off the door and peering into the living room, the blanket thrown haphazardly on the couch, the remotes on the table. “You did the solo movie night thing?”

“I did.” Lorelai nodded, sipping her coffee, eyes darting left and right. “Well, not exactly solo. Luke came over.”

When she dared to look at Rory again, she immediately wished she hadn’t.

“Huh.”

“You know, for a non-word, that seemed pretty meaningful.”

Maybe it was the way Rory’s smile shifted or the slight furrowing her brow that made Lorelai worry. Maybe it was just her own concerns being projected onto her daughter, she couldn’t be sure.

“No, I just... you said you and Luke weren’t together,” Rory noted.

“And we’re not,” Lorelai confirmed, watching the smile turn into a smirk. “We’re not, Rory.”

“Okay, fine,” she said, hands held up in mock surrender. “You’re not.”

The now fully-fledged smirk on her lips definitely suggested she still didn’t quite believe it still, but the last thing Lorelai wanted to do was fight, so she let it go. Of course, that didn’t last very long.

“We just watched a movie,” she insisted. “Shared some brownies, talked a little. Two friends hanging out, perfectly normal. It’s not like it was a date.”

Rory nodded even as she turned and headed towards her room again. “You know, that’s weird, because when I was talking to you about my first official date with Jess, didn’t you say that him coming over to watch _Almost Famous_ and bringing snacks was pretty date-like anyway?”

“And didn’t you say it wasn’t?”

“Ah, but this isn’t about what _I_ think a date is, it’s about what _you_ think a date is,” she said with particular emphasis, “or what Luke thinks a date is, I guess,” she added, glancing back at her mom. “Something to think about. Good night.”

Rory disappeared into her room then, closing the door behind her.

“Good night,” Lorelai called absently, perhaps a beat too late.

Her and Luke on a date. The idea wasn’t repulsive. Actually, it wasn’t even as funny as it might’ve been at one time. It was so strange, because Lorelai hadn’t thought about Luke that way in years, not until Rory mentioned it back when she first moved to the Hollow. She just seemed to naturally assume that there was something more than friendship between Luke and Lorelai, and for a few days, Lorelai had actually taken the time to re-examine that whole situation. Before long, she shook it off as nothing to worry about. Rory got it wrong, and that was that. Sure, Luke was no hardship to look at, and he was genuinely the nicest guy, but he wasn’t interested in Lorelai that way and she wasn’t looking for a boyfriend either.

Thinking about it all too long and too deeply meant that Lorelai took forever to get to sleep that night and dreamt too much even when she did manage to get some rest. In the morning, she was more than ready for plenty more coffee and the opportunity to hide her head inside the newspaper a while.

“So, I was just wondering, which movie did you watch last night?” Rory asked not long after ‘Good morning.’ “You know, with Luke.”

Lorelai glanced up and caught her daughter smirking again as she dropped a piece of Pop Tart into her mouth.

“If I tell you will it lead to more questions?”

“Maybe.” Rory grinned.

Lorelai rolled her eyes. “ _Casablanca_.”

“Huh.”

“Again, with the non-word that sounds incredibly meaningful,” Lorelai complained, tossing the paper down on the table. “How do you do that?”

“What?” asked Rory, hands raised in mock surrender, smile still firmly in place. “What is the big deal? I just don’t get why you can’t admit you like Luke.”

Lorelai scoffed out a laugh that was meant to be paired with a denial, but the words died on her tongue when she met Rory’s eyes. It was almost as if this was a test, like Rory wanted to see if Lorelai was willing to outright lie to her about this, because the truth was that they both knew she could not, in all good conscience, say she never thought about Luke that way. Taking a deep breath, Lorelai placed both hands on the table and carefully considered her words before she spoke.

“Now I am going to tell you this only because you are my daughter and because I believe I can trust you not to go making a big deal and telling the whole town, okay?”

“I’m listening.” Rory nodded once.

“Okay.” Lorelai cleared her throat to continue. “I will not deny that I find Luke to be an attractive man and, yes, when we first met, I vaguely considered him as a dating possibility, but that never happened, and since then we have only ever been friends. That is the whole truth,” she explained. “However, I am also willing to admit that I am not in any way repulsed by the idea of dating Luke, and if he asked, I would probably say yes, but the fact remains that he’s not going to ask, because Luke does not think of me that way.”

Rory was staring at Lorelai in the most disconcerting way, even when she was done making her Luke-related speech. It was as if she was trying to read any further information right out of Lorelai’s head, and yet there really was none to be had. She had told her daughter the whole truth, something that she hoped would only help in building a strong relationship between them, though with Rory, it was often tough to tell if she was really getting anywhere.

“You know, I think you’re underestimating how much Luke likes you,” said Rory eventually.

“Really?” Lorelai asked, a little unsure if she was walking into a trap here but really hoping she wasn’t.

“Come on, look at all the stuff he does for you, for us,” she amended as she thought about it. “Thanksgiving, Christmas, free coffee, cheap meals, all those fix-it jobs around the house,” she reeled off all too easily. “You and I both know that most guys don’t do all of that unless they’re getting something in return.”

“Rory!” Lorelai gasped, apparently scandalised by what she was suggesting.

“Oh, come on.” Rory rolled her eyes. “I’m seventeen. I know what sexual favours are. If Luke isn’t getting any, then he really must be in love with you or something. I have homework,” she said then, taking the rest of her Pop Tart and coffee back to her room and closing the door without another word or a backward glance.

Lorelai remained at the table in stunned silence for at least ten minutes, and even when she felt able to move, she still had nothing she could think to say. That was a first.

* * *

“You haven’t said much about your date last night,” Luke noted as he and Jess worked the counter together at the diner.

“I told you, it was good,” his nephew reminded him. “What else do you need to know?”

“I don’t know.” Luke shrugged as they switched places so Luke could put money in the register and Jess could reach the coffee pot. “Did Rory like the restaurant? How was the food? Are things still in a good place with you guys?”

“Yes, pretty good, and yes,” said Jess after a moment’s thought. “Now, unless you want a full-on play-by-play which, frankly, would make me more than a little uncomfortable, I’d really like to serve these people,” he told Luke, gesturing towards the customers with the coffee pot.

“Fine, go,” his uncle advised, smiling in spite of himself.

He didn’t mean to pry exactly, it was just that Luke cared so much about Jess, and also about Rory, in a way. He only wanted to be sure that things were okay with them, that he didn’t have to worry about their relationship imploding any time soon.

It was strange because he hadn’t worried too much about Rory being a bad influence on Jess, despite the way she could be sometimes. Well, maybe right at the beginning, but he got to know her a little better since then, and underneath the attitude, she seemed like a decent kid. Besides, Jess had spent way more time with Rory than he had, and Luke trusted his nephew’s judgement. For a teenage boy, he seemed to have a pretty good head on his shoulders.

Of course, when it came to teens dating, Luke knew there were always certain things that parents and guardians had to concern themselves with. He and Jess had the safe sex talk before, and the being respectful of women talk too, but somehow Luke got the feeling that maybe Jess wouldn’t be the one doing all the running in this relationship. Luke fast realised the direction his brain was heading in and very definitely changed tracks.

Lorelai seemed to have gotten over her worries about her daughter dating Jess too, not that she ever really seemed concerned about Rory coming to harm as such. If anything, her worry was for Jess, and Luke couldn’t exactly blame her for that. In fact, he kind of liked that she cared that much for his nephew.

Lorelai was an amazing person, it wasn’t as if he didn’t know that already, and she had been a great support to Luke, especially with Jess, over the last six years since they first met. There was a time when he actually thought they might be closer than friends, but Luke had quickly dismissed the idea. He had never been that great with the whole dating thing, plus he had Jess to consider, who was only eleven back then. As time passed, Luke and Lorelai got closer, but only ever as buddies, that was all.

Last night almost seemed like it could’ve been something more than friends hanging out, but it didn’t take much for Luke to convince himself that he was reading way too much into a movie and some brownies on the couch. Lorelai would never look at him as dating material. Besides, she had her daughter to deal with now and Rory should definitely be priority one. Luke shook his head and got back to work, deciding to stop being foolish before he got any more stupid ideas. It couldn’t possibly be worth the risk.

* * *

“Is it weird that I’m almost happy to be back here?” said Rory, frowning some as Jess pulled his car into the parking lot at Chilton.

“Not really,” he said, shutting off the engine. “I mean, you do get to see more of me here than you do in the Hollow, so...” he said, smirking terribly.

“Oh, hello, Mr Confidence.” Rory laughed at his gall. “You really think I like you that much?” she teased him.

“Actually, yes, I do,” Jess countered.

“Lucky guess,” she said, smiling still as she leaned across the gear shift to kiss him. “Hmm, well, I’ll admit that you’re good at that, at least,” she told him as they parted. “Maybe you are the only reason I like this place at all. Of course, some of it could also be the avoidance of Lorelai,” she considered as they both got out of the car.

They met behind the vehicle, Jess turning for a moment to lock the doors, then putting his arm around Rory’s shoulders.

“I thought you guys were getting along better now,” he said of her and Lorelai, as they headed for the main building.

“We are,” Rory agreed, “but this past week, she’s been having serious denial issues about Luke.”

“Luke? As in my Uncle Luke?”

“No, Luke Perry.” Rory rolled her eyes. “Yes, your uncle Luke,” she confirmed then, lightly smacking Jess in the chest for being so foolish. “You know they hung out together at the house the night of our date, right?”

“Seriously? He never mentioned that.” Jess frowned at the thought.

He really did think that Luke talked to him about everything, even when he wished he wouldn’t sometimes. Honestly, the topics of treating women right and certain types of protection had come up way too much recently.

“Well, apparently, there were brownies and a movie and the two of them sharing the couch,” Rory told him then.

It took Jess a minute to catch up but then he had to wonder what all the fuss was about. The look on his face must’ve proved that as Rory looked at him with wide eyes, as if she just couldn’t understand why he was so calm.

“You do know they seriously like each other,” she said just as they reached her locker.

“I didn’t just get here.” Jess rolled his eyes. “They’ve ‘seriously liked each other’ since I was eleven,” he told her definitely, leaning on the wall and watching Rory as she exchanged books. “But it’s not like they’ll ever do anything about it. Luke pretty much has a ‘no dating’ policy and even though he swears it’s not because of me, I’m pretty sure it is. As for Lorelai, I’ve heard about her going out with guys a few times, but it’s been pretty rare. I don’t know, I think maybe what happened with your father makes her wary.”

Rory looked from her locker to Jess very fast when she heard him say that. Her parents, as well as the grandparents she had once thought were her parents, were a pretty hairy topic, and not one she had discussed with Jess much. It made her uncomfortable to even think about Christopher Hayden too much, especially since she had been living in Stars Hollow, but he did still exist and he was still her biological father. There was a time when he and Lorelai were as close as two people could be, Rory wouldn’t be here otherwise, and a time when what they had completely fell apart.

The bell ringing overheard snapped Rory out of her daze, and then Jess was leaning into to kiss her quickly on the lips.

“I’ll see you later,” he said with a smile and then he was gone.

Rory hoped she answered him but wasn’t entirely sure as she stood there a few seconds more, her brain whirring too fast in her head. When Lorelai was her age, she had Rory and handed her off to her own parents to raise. That was tough for Rory to forgive, but she never had really thought about the other part of it, the part where Lorelai not only gave up a baby and eventually alienated herself from her parents for a good long while, but how she lost her boyfriend too. Christopher was taken away from her and even when he had the choice, he stayed away. If Lorelai had once felt for Christopher anything like what Rory felt for Jess, she had to have been heartbroken.

Shaking her head, Rory shoved her book into her bag and hurried along to class. Still, she couldn’t help but let her mind continue to wander into the past. Maybe Lorelai had it as tough as Rory had in some ways. Maybe they were both as clueless as each other about what a real relationship could or should really be like.


	24. Chapter 24

It had been a deliberate act on Lorelai’s part to avoid going into the diner alone, ever since Rory had started to put ideas into her head about Luke. It felt safe enough to be in his company if her daughter or his nephew was around, but facing the guy alone with a head full of heart-shaped thoughts, Lorelai just wasn’t sure that she could.

It was almost two weeks before she dared to do it, more because she was desperate for good coffee than anything else. Deciding she was adult enough to suck it up and deal, she took a deep breath and pushed open the door, strolling right up to the counter and taking a seat.

“Lorelai,” said Luke, appearing from the back very suddenly.

She missed the stool by a couple of inches, falling onto the floor in a heap instead.

“Aww, geez!” Luke exclaimed, rushing to help her.

“I’m fine, I’m okay,” she insisted, even as his hands slid under her arms to lift her back onto her feet. “Wow, that was weird.”

“I’m sorry if that was my fault,” he told her. “I was just happy to see you, it feels like it’s been a while.”

“We were in yesterday.”

“Well, yeah, you and Rory, but just you... I mean, you used to come in here a lot, by yourself, for coffee, but lately... Not that I’m keeping tabs.”

Lorelai smiled as she sat on the stool without incident this time. Actually, seeing and hearing Luke be so seemingly nervous in her company made her feel better about what she was feeling too. Not that he could have any idea what was on her mind, surely.

“It’s nice to be missed,” she said eventually, realising that prolonged silence wasn’t helping anybody. “Um, coffee, please?”

“Right, sure, coffee.” Luke nodded, turning fast to get the pot and a large cup that he filled to the brim. “On the house.”

“Oh, thanks,” she said, picking it up with two hands and taking a long drink.

“Well, you did just fall from my furniture so call in compensatory,” he told her with a smile.

“Pretty sure it was less your furniture and more my lack of co-ordination... which may or may not come from the lack of coffee, so hey, everything worked out in the end,” she said, taking another drink.

“How’s the inn?” Luke asked conversationally.

“Pretty good,” Lorelai told him, nodding her head. “Sookie is getting just a little crazed over the vegetarians staying in Room 14, but they leave tomorrow, and I think I can keep her calm until then.”

“Who’s keeping her calm while you’re here?”

“Michel. Which, now that I think about, is probably not going to work out so well,” Lorelai considered with a frown. “Hmm, I probably shouldn’t hang around too long.”

“Well, it’s always good to see you,” Luke told her, adjusting his hat.

All that really achieved was drawing attention to it and that got a brand-new smile out of Lorelai. “You’re still wearing it,” she said, eyes rising above his face. “So, it’s a hit, huh?”

“Best cap anyone ever bought me,” Luke assured her, smiling yet. “I still feel bad that I didn’t get you anything-”

“Luke, stop,” she urged him. “I told you, your gift to me was dinner. You know how Rory and I would’ve suffered if we had to fend for ourselves on Christmas. Tiny Tim ate like a king compared to what we would’ve come up with. Ooh, which reminds me, once Sookie comes back to reality, I need to talk to her about the Bid-A-Basket,” she said as she got down from her stool.

“You’re taking part in that crazy thing again this year?” asked Luke, making a face. “Why do you even bother?”

“Tradition,” Lorelai told him, like he was ridiculous for asking, before gulping down the last mouthful of her coffee. “Well, that and the fact I can snag some unsuspecting guy to clean out my gutters for free.”

“You know Jess would probably do that for you if you asked?”

“I know he would, but I wouldn’t feel right about not paying him, even if he said it was fine,” she said, frowning some. “I mean, now he’s dating Rory too? It’d be like using him.”

“But you’re quite happy to use some poor sap in town that bids on your basket?”

“Got it in one, mister.” Lorelai grinned as she backed up towards the door.

“Crazy lady!” Luke called behind her, laughing when he heard her do the same.

A sigh of relief escaped him after she was gone. He worried things were weird between them after the movie night they had a couple of weeks ago, especially when he never did see Lorelai since then, at least not when she wasn’t glued to Rory’s side. Now he knew things were okay and that was great, except for the part where he almost hoped that things had changed somehow.

“Maybe I’m crazy too,” he muttered to himself, getting right back to work.

* * *

“Why are you so obsessed with this?”

Jess stared wide-eyed at Paris as she slammed her hands on the lunch table, practically pitching a fit because he wouldn’t tell her his PSAT scores.

“I told you mine, now tell me yours.”

“Here’s a crazy idea, how about I don’t?”

“Why?”

“Well, first, because it’s none of your business, and second, do you have any idea how satisfying it is to see your face turn that many colours all at the same time?”

A sound somewhere between a growl and a scream came out of Paris and then she went slamming out of the cafeteria with Madeline and Louise running along behind her.

Rory laughed. “Wow. You have a mean streak,” she told Jess as he turned to look at her. “Is it weird that I kind of like that?”

“I don’t know, but it’s only Paris and she’s usually mean to everybody,” Jess reminded her. “Just so you know, I do not plan to be anything but nice to you.”

“Good answer.” Rory smiled, shoving her lunch away now she was done with it. “So.”

“So,” Jess echoed, pushing his tray across the table too. “Speaking of PSAT scores...”

“Huh. So, Paris asking you for your scores was wrong but you expect me to tell you mine?”

“I’m not dating Paris,” said Jess, before making a face, “thank God. Besides, I told you what I got.”

“Yes, you did.” Rory nodded. “750 verbal, 750 math. You’re such a perfect student your scores even match,” she teased him.

“So, come on, tell me what you got,” Jess urged her. “It’s not like it matters. You heard what Madeline scored, and Louise was even worse. I know you’re smarter than both of them.”

Rory sighed like he was just so annoying and rolled her eyes for good measure. Her hand went inside her shirt then and produced an envelope that had been folded very small and secreted in there.

Jess didn’t mean to look surprised, or turned on, by what he was seeing, but he couldn’t really control either thing.

“I didn’t feel like sharing with Lorelai until I got to see it for myself first and could make an informed decision,” she said, flattening out the envelope and handing it to Jess.

“Thank you,” he said deliberately.

He knew what a big deal it was for Rory to trust, to share, all those things, and this was something she hadn’t even got so far as telling her mom about, which meant it really mattered. Opening up the envelope, he slipped out the paper and read the scores.

“Wow,” he said, shaking his head. “You got a 740 verbal and a 760 math.”

“I know.” Rory nodded, looking everywhere but at him. “Can I have that back now?”

Jess dutifully put the paper back in the envelope and gave it back to her, trying not to stare too obviously as she slipped it back into its hiding place.

“Rory, those are really good scores.”

“Okay, they’re good scores. Now can we talk about something else for thirty seconds?”

“Sure, if you want to,” Jess agreed, though he wasn’t really sure he understood what the problem was.

He had fast learnt with Rory that sometimes it was better not to ask. In the end, she usually told him what was wrong anyway, but if he pushed, she just got mad and it wasn’t worth it.

“So, I got this weird text message from Lorelai before.” Rory shook her head. “Something about picnic baskets? I’m guessing it’s crazy town event time again?”

“The Bid-A-Basket auction.” Jess smiled knowingly. “Basically, all the women in town put together picnic baskets of food and the guys all bid for them, then you get to eat the lunch from the basket with the basket-maker,” he explained. “Of course, you’re not supposed to know who made which basket, but mostly, people do.”

“So, it’s a cattle market,” Rory considered. “Selling off women to the highest bidder?”

“Technically selling off sandwiches and pastries to the highest bidder, or in your mom’s case, usually a stale Pop Tart and a couple of Slim Jims,” he said with a smirk. “It’s just for fun, and the money goes to charity, so it’s all in a good cause.”

“Sure, ‘cause that makes it okay.” Rory rolled her eyes, though she was smiling none the less. “Are we raising a barn or building a new school house, neighbour?”

“This year is probably the same as last year, bridge repairs,” Jess explained. “But Stars Hollow folks never seem to care too much what they’re raising money for, they just love the town events, and honestly, most of them aren’t so bad.”

There was something about the way he said it that made Rory realise Jess was really into the whole concept of this Bid-A-Basket thing. She never would’ve had him down for a participant in most town events. Luke made it clear on more than one occasion that he thought Taylor Doose was a crackpot and pretty much all town events were ridiculous. Jess seemed to agree with a lot of that, except apparently for when he didn’t.

“So, I’m guessing Lorelai expects me to join in on the whole basket making thing,” she said, trying to meet Jess’ eyes but he evaded. “Oh my God, you really want me to, don’t you?”

“I didn’t say anything,” he assured her, hands up in mock surrender. “But if you did, you know I would bid on you, right?”

“You’re so weird.” Rory laughed. “Fine, I’ll make you a basket, but don’t expect much. I’m with Lorelai on this - you’re getting whatever is lurking in the back of the kitchen cabinets.”

“It’s not about the food,” Jess assured her, reaching for her hand and taking hold.

Rory looked over at him and met his gaze, wondering how he had this strange ability to make her want to blush and turn into a puddle of goo at a moment’s notice. She had never known another guy who could do that, but she had to admit, she kind of liked it.

“You know, if we’re going to this crazy event, we should at least see if we can’t use it to everybody’s advantage,” she considered then. “I mean, if Lorelai is making up a basket, maybe we should encourage a certain someone to bid on her?”

Jess stared at her for a second and then his eyes widened. “Luke? You want to encourage Luke to pay for a lunch date with Lorelai?”

“Come on, you know they like each other. Why not give them a push in the right direction?”

“Would you have appreciated them giving us a push in the right direction before we were ready?” Jess asked her with a look.

Rory opened her mouth to reply to that then closed it again fast. After a moment’s consideration, she had an answer, though perhaps not a very good one. “This is different.”

“Really?” Jess challenged her. “How?”

“It just is,” Rory countered.

Jess laughed at that, he couldn’t help it. “Wow, now I see how you got such a great score on your verbal,” he teased.

“Shut up,” his girlfriend told him, slugging him in the arm, but she was laughing too.


	25. Chapter 25

“I still have no idea why I agreed to this,” Rory complained as she put two fruit roll-ups and a couple of cans of soda into a very small picnic basket.

“Because you want to feel like part of the wonderful traditions Stars Hollow has to offer?” Lorelai tried, the amused smile proving she already knew she was wrong. “I’m guessing it probably has more to do with the fact that Jess liked the idea of having somebody to bid on.”

“Maybe,” Rory grumbled. “Why does he even want to do this? I mean, it’s a pretty dumb concept anyway, but I can kind of see how it’d be a way to get a date with someone without having to ask, you know, for the shy and the weird.”

“You’re thinking of Kirk, aren’t you?”

“But for people who are already dating? It’s insane. It would be so much easier if we just skipped the whole bidding part and went on our own normal date.”

Lorelai wasn’t absolutely sure how serious Rory was about this. She watched her even as she packed her own basket - with treats mostly donated to the cause by Sookie and partially bought from the discount shelf at Doose’s market - and tried to figure out if now was the time for advice or a joke or what.

“You know, if you really don’t want to do the basket thing, I’m sure Jess would understand,” she said carefully, never entirely sure how Rory was going to take even the simplest of suggestions.

She certainly seemed less angry lately, somewhat since she had been dating Jess, but Lorelai liked to think also because Rory had really settled into life in the Hollow and had come to trust her as well. Of course, that didn’t mean that Rory didn’t have her moments of teen angst and dramatic rebellion still, because she absolutely did. Lorelai was still wary enough to tread carefully.

“I figure if he really wants to waste his time and money bidding on a crappy lunch, why not let him?” Rory shrugged, frowning at the contents of her basket. “You do know that’s cheating, right?” she said then, looking up at the home-made pastries Lorelai was wrapping up to put in her own basket of goodies.

“Nobody said I had to personally make everything in my basket... or anything in my basket,” she said smiling as she considered all the treats stuffed in there. “Here, be a cheater with me, babe,” she said then, handing a box over the table to Rory.

“What is it?” she asked, prising off the lid and smiling at the sweet scent that floated out.

“Sookie’s special raspberry tartlets,” Lorelai told her. “I’m not so sure it’s a good idea for me to have heart-shaped dessert in a basket that I’m hoping to use to lure someone into nothing more exciting than gutter cleaning. You and Jess enjoy them, okay?”

“Thanks,” Rory smiled, before seeming to realise she was doing it and wiping the look off her face.

“Of course, this is all dependent on that boyfriend of yours bringing enough money to the auction.”

“Yeah, because so many guys are gonna bid on me.” Rory rolled her eyes.

“Are you kidding me?” Lorelai asked her with wide eyes. “Sweets, look at you, you’re gorgeous, plus you have that whole ‘tude thing going on that the guys totally go for.”

“You’re a crazy person.”

“Yes, that is true, but that fact has nothing to do with the other fact about you being totally attractive to guys. Come on, you have Jess, don’t you?”

“Jess is different.”

“Granted, yes, Jess is better than most of the kids I know around here, and since I don’t want to start a fight, I’m not going to mention that I like you seeing him way more than I liked you hanging around with Tristan Dugray, but my point is, babe, you are totally bidding war material. I should know. I may have been the subject of a couple of bidding wars myself in the past,” she said, preening just a little.

“This was before they found out you just wanted them for yard work and stuff, right?” asked Rory, smirking some.

“Well, yeah,” Lorelai admitted. “But still, won’t it be just a little fun to have guys laying down hard cash for your attention?”

“Maybe,” said Rory, unwilling to give more than that. “So, you’re not expecting anyone special to bid on your basket? Just guys you might be able to trick into cleaning gutters?”

“Who would there be that’s special?” Lorelai shrugged, eyes very much down inside her basket again by now.

“How should I know?” said Rory, trying to keep a smile at bay.

The only fun she really planned on having at this picnic basket auction was seeing if she couldn’t get Lorelai hooked up with Luke. She wasn’t really sure why she was doing it, truth be told. When she pitched it to Jess, it was more from an amusement angle, that and the fact that it might do both the adults some good to get some. The look on her boyfriend’s face when she suggested that was just priceless.

Still, in the end, he had agreed that he always thought Luke liked Lorelai and that she probably liked him back. He said he never actively encouraged it, in fact, he never talked to his uncle or his aunt-type figure about the situation at all, but he figured pushing them in the direction of a picnic lunch couldn’t really do any harm. Rory was convinced it might actually do some good.

* * *

“I still can’t understand why you wanted me to come along to this insane mating ritual.” Luke rolled his eyes as he walked into the square on Jess’ heels. “You know I avoid these crack pot things, especially if they involve Taylor and a gavel.”

“C’mon, Uncle Luke, it’s for charity,” Jess reminded him with too big of a smile.

“You’re up to something, kid. I can always tell,” said Luke, narrowing his eyes.

“What would I be up to?” His nephew shrugged. “I’m just here to bid on Rory’s basket.”

“How you talked her into this thing, I have no idea. She was so anti-town craziness before, it was great to have an ally, until you and Lorelai ambushed her,” he grumbled.

“Hey, it’s starting.” Jess shushed him then as Taylor took the stage and began the auction.

While Luke stood there, arms folded, being his usual grumpy self, Taylor sold off a very large, impressive looking basket belonging to Sookie St James, a similarly-sized but less flamboyant one that came with Miss Patty’s company, and something that was bound to be filled with a lot of tofu which Lane’s cousin bought under duress. In the midst of all this, Jess found Rory in the crowd and tipped her a wink which she returned. Lorelai didn’t even notice.

“And now a very pretty basket,” Taylor declared, lifting it up onto the table. “Smells like home-baked goods to me. Who’ll start the bidding?”

Jess watched one guy bid five dollars and another go to ten before he elbowed Luke in the ribs.

“You know that’s Lorelai’s basket, right?”

“With home-baked goods inside?” Luke said with a look.

“Sookie hooked her up. I’m telling you, it’s her basket. Rory told me, they both had purple ribbons on them, and Lorelai’s was the bigger of the two.”

The bidding rose to fifteen dollars, then twenty, and promptly stalled.

“You’re seriously going to let her be embarrassed like that?” said Jess, staring at his uncle. “Twenty bucks? Sookie’s went for fifty. Hell, Miss Patty got thirty-five.”

“Lane only made five,” Luke noted.

“So not the point, Luke.” Jess rolled his eyes. “C’mon, you said you’ve been looking for a way to pay Lorelai back for the Christmas gift, this is your shot.”

“Do I hear twenty-five?” Taylor asked, gavel raised in anticipation.

“Thirty,” said Luke out of nowhere.

Jess hid a grin behind his hand as one of the guys from before bid forty and Luke countered with fifty. He looked across at Rory who was doing a much better job of keeping a straight face, even as Lorelai’s own expression phased from confusion to something that looked a lot like delight.

“Sold!” Taylor declared at last as the crowd cheered.

“You won,” said Jess, smiling widely at Luke.

“I should take the money out of your allowance,” his uncle told him.

“But you won’t.”

“But I won’t,” he agreed, going up to pay his money and claim his basket.

“Hey,” said Lorelai, stepping up beside him. “Did you know...?” she checked, gesturing to the basket now clutched in Luke’s hand.

“Jess mentioned something,” he said nonchalantly. “You, uh, wanna go someplace and... eat?” he suggested, wondering why it suddenly seemed like such a big deal to spend time with her - he had done it plenty of times before.

“Oh, sure, yeah, but could we just wait a second, see what happens with Rory’s basket?”

Luke nodded and backed up into the crowd again as Taylor started the bidding on the next lot.

“Hmm, this looks suspiciously like that last basket, I wonder why that would be?” he said, none too subtly as he glanced Rory’s way. “Who’ll start the bidding at five dollars?”

“I will,” said a voice that was distinctly not Jess and all eyes turned towards the raised hand in the back.

“Who is that?” Rory hissed to Lorelai.

“Um, that would be the guy who works in the market. Donny?” she checked with Luke.

“Dean,” he corrected.

“Twenty bucks!” Jess called to Taylor, raising his own hand.

Though the selectman complained about not following proper procedure, he took the bid anyway. Dean bid twenty-five.

“What is he doing? I don’t even know him,” Rory complained. “He does know even if he wins this thing, I’m not going to eat lunch with him, right?”

“Rory, it’s tradition,” Lorelai told her.

“He’s twelve feet tall!” her daughter countered. “God, I’d get a crick in the neck just looking at him for too long.”

“He is freakishly tall for his age,” Luke agreed.

“And the forehead on that guy?” Rory shook her head. “Look under the turtleneck, I dare you, he probably has bolts in his neck.”

Though the bidding climbed a little higher, Dean soon dropped out of the running, though he had cost Jess sixty dollars with his meddling. Rory sighed with relief that the best man won, glaring at Dean even as he shot her a winning smile.

“So weird,” Rory muttered as she walked up to the front, grabbed Jess’ arm and steered him away from the crowd.

“Geez, are you really so desperate to get me alone?” he asked with an amused smirk.

“I want to get away from the weirdo who tried to outbid you. He keeps smiling at me like we’re friends or something,” Rory explained. “Besides, if Luke and Lorelai are going to do the date thing, I’m happy for them, I just don’t want to see it happen. Do you?”

“Probably not,” Jess agreed as they kept on walking.

Without even discussing it, they headed for the bridge. It seemed to have become their spot over time, without them really meaning for it too. Sitting down together, Jess placed the basket between them and prised off the lid, marvelling at what he found inside.

“You made these?” he checked, lifting out the raspberry tartlets.

“Maybe,” she told him, though the smirk that pulled at her lips gave her away.

“And maybe I’m the President of the United States,” Jess countered. “They look a lot like Sookie’s.”

“There’s a reason for that,” Rory told him, reaching for a soda from the basket. “I did tell you not to get excited about what would be in this basket,” she added as Jess frowned at the lack of anything else truly edible. “You paid way over the odds for this thing.”

“No, I didn’t,” Jess assured her, moving the basket aside and shifting closer to her. “It was never about the basket.”

“Is that so?” she said, smiling as he leaned in closer and finally kissed her.

When Jess moved as if to pull away, Rory brought her hand up to his head and tried to keep him close, deepening their kiss, getting lost in the moment for a while. When they finally parted, Jess looked dazed.

“Well, that was definitely worth sixty bucks,” he told her, before realising how that sounded. “Yeah, I didn’t-”

“I get it,” she promised. “Believe me, if I thought you were calling me a hooker, you’d be drowning right about now.”

“Okay.” Jess laughed at that though it came out a little more nervous that he intended. “You know I can swim, right?”

“Trust me, you’d still be drowning,” she said a little too seriously before the smile came back to her lips and her hand cradled his face. “You really can’t tell when I’m kidding, can you?”

“Not always,” he admitted. “I guess I’m just not as smart as you. I mean, your PSAT scores proved that.”

“Oh, good. School stuff.” Rory sighed, pulling away from him very abruptly. “Because that’s exactly what I want to talk about on a date.”

“Well, you didn’t want to talk about it at school either,” Jess noted. “I’m sorry, I just think it’s weird that you’re not psyched about your scores. Most people would kill to be as smart as you, Rory. You could probably get into any college you wanted.”

“That would be so useful if I wanted to go to college,” Rory said sharply, picking up her soda and getting to her feet.

“Rory!” Jess called after her as she stomped off the bridge.

Quickly gathering up the picnic basket, he scrambled to follow her, having to run a little to catch up. He grabbed her arm just as they reached the trees and pulled her back around to face him.

“Rory, come on,” he urged her. “I’m sorry, okay? I just don’t understand.”

“What is so hard for you to figure out, Jess?” she asked him, arms folded across her chest. “I don’t want to go to college. It’s a pretty simple concept, and as we’ve already established, you’re not stupid either, so I thought you’d be able to grasp it.”

“I heard you say you don’t want to go, I guess I just don’t understand why.”

“Because... it’s not for me” she told him, knowing as well as he did that it was a really lame answer. “Not everybody has to go to college, you know? Mark Twain didn’t. H.G. Wells, Truman Capote, Maya Angelou.”

“I know that.” Jess nodded.

“Then would you please not make a big deal out of this?” Rory urged him. “Because if that’s what you plan on doing-”

“I don’t,” Jess assured her. “I’m sorry, okay? I just... I wanna say one more thing and then I promise I won’t talk about it anymore.”

“Fine, what’s the one thing?” Rory asked, foot tapping slightly with frustration as she waited for the answer.

“I just want you to know that I believe you can do anything you want to do, Rory,” he told her, his hand on her arm and his eyes locked on hers. “You are so smart, so gifted. You can do anything.”

Rory didn’t answer at first. It might’ve surprised Jess to realise that it was mostly because she didn’t trust her voice to work at all. She still couldn’t understand why he cared so much, why he believed in her so much, for lack of a better phrase, but it didn’t suck. She looked around fast when she heard movement, realising that for as long as they were outside with a town event going on, they would neve truly be alone.

“Can we go somewhere else?” she said eventually, swallowing hard. “Your house, maybe?”

“Sure.” Jess nodded his agreement, only glad that she wasn’t mad at him anymore.

Putting his arm around her shoulders, he was happy to feel her lean in to him and then her arm creep around his back as they headed for home. Maybe this date could yet be salvaged. Jess only hoped Luke and Lorelai were having a better time, though he wondered if either of them would admit it even if they did.

* * *

“This is nice,” said Lorelai, looking around town square from the bench in the gazebo.

“You said that already,” Luke told her with an amused smile as he bit into his pastry.

“Oh, I did? Huh.” Lorelai laughed at her own mistake. “Well, it’s still true.”

“Not gonna argue with that.”

Silence came over them again and Lorelai tried not to sigh. It was nice to be there with Luke, but at the same time, it was really awkward too. This was really, really date-like, and to be honest, she wasn’t sure if that was what he had intended or not. She still wasn’t ckear if Luke even realised he was bidding on her basket when he started doing it, and yet, she wondered who in the heck he thought he was getting if not her.

“Okay, so this is driving me crazy,” she said at last, turning to fully face him. “Luke, why did you bid on my basket?”

“Why did I...? Uh, because,” he began awkwardly, adjusting his hat, “I was... Well, it was sort of Jess’ idea.”

“Jess’ idea?”

“Yeah, but I could’ve said no. I didn’t, because the idea of lunch with you, well, that’s never bad. You’re good company and you bought me the hat, so, you know?”

His rambling was rivalling her own and yet Luke didn’t feel like he was explaining himself at all well. If Lorelai even had half a clue of what he was trying to tell her it would be a miracle, and yet, she was smiling, so that had to be a good sign.

“Luke, I told you, the hat was my gift to you, and dinner was your gift to me,” she said definitely, “not that there has to be a trade-off, but still.”

“You didn’t want me to bid on your basket,” he said, eyes going down.

“No, that’s not what I meant,” Lorelai assured him, her hand on top of his own getting his attention right back. “I didn’t expect you to do it, I mean, you never did before or anything, but... but I’m not exactly sorry that you did,” she admitted with a smile.

“Okay.” Luke nodded, eyes dipping to Lorelai’s hand on his still. “So, this is a good thing?” he said, turning his hand over and squeezing her fingers.

“It’s not a bad thing,” she admitted as they looked at each other again.  
“No, it’s absolutely not.”


	26. Chapter 26

Rory was not in a good mood. Most people would probably say that was fairly normal for a girl like her, but they had no idea. On Saturday, for a while there, she had actually been pretty happy. Sure, she and Jess fought a little over stupid college stuff, but they got past it. Way past it. Over at the Danes’ house there had been some serious connecting of the horizontal-on-the-couch kind, which could’ve been great, but the moment she suggested they take things upstairs, Jess seemed to turn cold.

Maybe if she had a real chance to ask him what the deal was he would’ve told her, but Luke came home pretty soon after the weirdness began and then Jess was telling him how Rory was just leaving anyway. As much as she didn’t want to go, she also wasn’t about to have any kind of personal conversation with Jess in front of Luke, so she went home. She figured they would catch up with each other that night or maybe sometime on Sunday, but Jess never called or came to the house, and when she tried to call him, she got voicemail on his cell and no answer on the landline.

Of course, it had occurred to her that she could go to the diner to see Jess, since that was most likely where he was, but Rory figured he was the one who ought to come looking for her. After all, he pretty much kicked her out of his house, shortly after rejecting her when she wanted to be close. In short, he hurt her, and Rory wasn’t good with handling that kind of pain.

Lorelai knew something was up. She asked Rory how things had gone on the picnic and received a short, sharp ‘Fine’ for her trouble. After that, Rory hid in her bedroom most of the time. She knew Lorelai only wanted to be kind and helpful, but it was way too embarrassing to have to tell your mom that you offered a guy sex and it seemed as if he couldn’t get away fast enough.

They had talked about it once. Rory had confronted Jess about not wanting her and he told her he wanted it to be special. She got that, she even liked the idea of it. No fumbling in supply closets, it ought to be something real. Saturday could’ve been special if they wanted it to be, but clearly, Jess didn’t. Maybe he knew that Luke would come home any second, but he didn’t say that and it wouldn’t explain him avoiding her after, and not just all-day Sunday, but on Monday too.

When Rory and Lorelai got to the diner for breakfast, Luke told them Jess had left early.

“Something about a project he had to finish for lab?” Luke had told them absently. “I don’t know.”

“I don’t either,” Rory had grumbled, and so had driven herself to Chilton, alone, for the first time in quite a while.

When she got there, she couldn’t find Jess anywhere. They didn’t have that many classes together, but when they did, he came in at the last moment and left the second the bell rang, completely ignoring Rory’s attempts to talk to him. By lunch, she was losing patience and out for blood. She got out of her own class ten minutes early, telling the male teacher she was having a feminine emergency, since that one never failed, then she waited outside of Jess’ class. The second he came out of the door, she pounced.

“I need to talk to you,” she said firmly.

“Not now,” he told her, turning away, but her hand grabbed his sleeve.

“Yes, now,” she argued. “Jess, do not make me turn this into a scene.”

He stopped walking, let out a sigh and then gave in, turning to face her and gesturing that they should go somewhere else if they were going to talk. They headed out through the nearest exit into the chilly weather where nobody else was likely to venture when food and a nice warm cafeteria was on offer.

“What is wrong with you?” Rory asked him the moment they were facing each other.

“Nothing,” Jess snapped, looking away.

“Nothing?” Rory echoed. “You pretty much threw me out of your house on Saturday, you avoided me all day Sunday, and now you’re running around school acting like I don’t exist. I know I told you I was never really anybody’s girlfriend before, but I know enough to know this is a pretty crappy way to treat one.”

“I’m sorry, okay?” Jess suddenly yelled, a little too close to Rory’s face perhaps. “I’m sorry,” he repeated at a more reasonable level, fingers pinching the bridge of his nose like he felt a headache coming on.

“Okay, so you’re sorry,” said Rory after a minute. “That doesn’t explain why you’re acting this way,” she noted. “We were having a pretty good time up until Luke walked in. Actually, this weird thing started about two minutes before that, but his timing was just perfect.”

“Could you just not push me on this, please?” Jess urged her, meeting her eyes with his own troubled gaze. “You asked me not to push you about college and I didn’t. Now I’m asking you for the same thing.”

“It’s not the same thing, Jess.” Rory shook her head. “I don’t want to go to college and I don’t want to fight with you about that. I don’t even know what this thing that’s bothering you actually is because you won’t tell me.”

“Yeah, and you’re just the queen of sharing,” he countered, sarcasm in full evidence. “Do you know how hard it is to talk to you sometimes? It’s like walking through a minefield. I never know when I’m gonna say the wrong thing and you’re gonna explode.”

“Nobody asked you to talk to me, Jess!” she spat back at him. “Nobody asked you to do anything you didn’t want to do. It was your idea to kiss me that first time, your idea to break up with your girlfriend for me. I didn’t ask!”

“You didn’t exactly try and stop me!”

“Because I thought you actually liked me!”

“I do like you. Rory, I...”

She met his eyes again and waited for him to finish but Jess never managed it. Rory wasn’t sure what she was seeing in his expression, but it looked a lot like pain. She knew more about that than she wanted to, and yet, she had no idea how to help him.

“Look, I don’t wanna have this conversation here,” said Jess, looking left and right, seeing evidence of people that he would rather not be privy to any confessions he was about to make. “We could meet up later, in Stars Hollow. How about the bridge? Five o’clock?”

“Okay.” Rory nodded. “Five o’clock at the bridge.”

Jess nodded too, then quickly headed back into the building before another word could be spoken.

Rory watched him go, hating that she could feel tears welling in her eyes and fighting them all the way back down. No use crying until she knew for sure she had something worth crying over.

* * *

“And I was going to say something to her, I swear that I was, it’s just... I don’t know, she’s been in this weird funk ever since the Bid-A-Basket.” Lorelai sighed. “Did Jess say they had a fight?”

“Jess hasn’t said anything.” Luke shook his head. “And I mean, literally, he has not said two words together since I got home Saturday. I asked him if he was okay, he said yes. I asked him if things were okay with Rory, he said fine.”

“Which only proves that things are far from fine.” Lorelai sighed again, dropping her doughnut down, half-eaten, onto her plate. “This is not cool.”

“My thoughts exactly,” Luke agreed.

“Well, there’s no way we can tell them that you and I are... well, contemplating the whole dating thing,” she said, lowering her volume considerably when she realised how many of the town’s gossips were in the diner right now. “Not if their own relationship hit a rocky patch.”

Lorelai hated to see the hurt on Luke’s face when she looked up at him then, but it really couldn’t be helped. She didn’t want to wait any longer either, not after already spending years just being friends and finally realising they could have more if they wanted it.

Nothing had happened at the picnic, not really anyway. Some hand holding, significant looks, talk of what could happen. Hell, they hadn’t even kissed yet, but the idea that now they couldn’t, that things had to be on hold for even longer, it hurt.

“I know, it sucks,” she said, daring to touch Luke’s arm when she was sure no-one was looking, “but they’re our kids. They’re priority one, right?”

“Right,” he agreed, though the sigh was bigger than the nod that came with it. “I just... I guess it was easier before we talked about it. You know, ignoring a vague possibility of a chance was one thing, but knowing what you want is right there and you can’t have it?”

Lorelai felt a shiver run through her when he met her eyes and said those words. She was what Luke wanted. He was what she wanted too, and it seemed so stupid that she never dared to admit it before, not even to herself really. Now, just when they might’ve been headed somewhere, a teenage crisis reared its ugly head.

“It’s just until Rory and Jess figure things out,” she said bravely. “A few days maybe? I mean, what’s a few days after six years?”

“Torture,” Luke told her plainly.

“Yeah, it really is,” she agreed, before a smile curved her lips. “But I happen to think it’ll be worth the wait,” she told him then.

Either Luke didn’t have an answer to that or he was just too taken aback by the comment to voice it. Lorelai was kind of pleased with herself either way.

* * *

“I’m guessing this is officially where we come to fight now,” said Rory as she walked onto the bridge.

Jess stopped throwing stones into the lake and looked up at her.

“The last thing I want to do is fight with you.”

“That’s funny because you did a pretty good impression of wanting to fight earlier, and of wanting to avoid me at all costs up to that point,” she recalled, folding her arms across her chest as the anger swelled in her again.

She wanted to be mad at him after the way he treated her, but at the same time, Rory just wanted Jess to explain, so they could move on and get past this. She liked how things were with them before. She didn’t always understand how it had happened, but she did like it, the hanging out, the making out, the having somebody she could rely on all of the time. At least, that was what she thought she had in her so-called boyfriend, until all this happened.

“You wanna sit?” Jess asked her, discarding the rest of the stones and wiping his hands on the legs of his pants.

Rory sighed like it was such a big deal and dropped down to sit on the edge of the bridge beside him, her legs dangling close to his own over the water.

“Now do you wanna tell me what the hell is going on with you?”

“Not really,” Jess admitted with a smirk that confused her, “but I guess I don’t really have a choice, unless I want you to be mad at me forever,” he said, eyes fixed on the view even as he talked to Rory. “You know, you talk a lot about how you never did this before, never had a real boyfriend or a real relationship. It’s like you think you’re the only one out of your depth sometimes, but you’re not, Rory,” he said, finally turning to face her. “I know I didn’t say it in the best way when we talked at lunch, and I’m sorry about that, but sometimes... sometimes you are really, really hard to talk to, you know, about the stuff that matters?”

Rory didn’t know how to respond to that, so she didn’t, just waited for Jess to explain some more because she had a feeling he definitely had more to say.

“I don’t know why you seem to think I’m an expert in having a girlfriend or something. Before you, there was Francie, and I never really cared about her like I should. Before her, well, I dated, kind of, but it was nothing serious, nobody who mattered. Rory, you are the first person that I ever felt this way about. Do you understand how overwhelming that is?”

“Yes,” she said, her voice suddenly a soft echo of its usual self. “I do understand,” she said pointedly, unable to find the right words to make it any plainer.

“So, Saturday, at my house, when we were... when we were fooling around,” he said, feeling stupid and knowing it showed. “It was great. I mean, you were there, you know it was, but then... Okay,” he said, taking a deep breath and steeling himself for what came next. “You know I don’t care that you’ve been with other guys before. The past is the past, I couldn’t care less about any of that, but it makes a difference, Rory. It can’t not because... because I don’t have a past like that.”

He hoped what he was saying was clear, even though it was deliberately vague. It seemed ridiculous that he couldn’t just say what he meant, to Rory of all people. She was his girlfriend and he cared about her so much, but this was too weird, too awkward. Jess felt like such an idiot.

His eyes were fixed on the water again, waiting for her to laugh or just up and walk away maybe. He didn’t want to believe that Rory would do either of those things, but somehow, he couldn’t help but fear it. It came as a real surprise to Jess when he suddenly felt her hand on his arm, sliding down to his hand, before her fingers laced between his own and took hold.

“I’m sorry,” she said softly, getting his attention at last. “I didn’t... I just figured you and Francie... but clearly I was wrong,”

“Call me old-fashioned but I kind of think that should be with someone I actually care about,” said Jess, just as softly. “I mean, I did care about her, in a way, but-”

“I get it,” Rory told him, a sad smile curving her lips. “And you’re right. It probably should be that way.”

“Hey, I’m not judging you,” he promised her quickly.

Rory shook her head. “I know that, and for the record, I’m not judging either,” she assured him. “I just wish you would’ve told me before. It’s not like I’m going to run screaming just because... because of that.”

Jess nodded that he understood then squeezed her hand. This had all gone way better than he thought it would in the end, with Rory being way more understanding than he ever thought possible. As awful as it sounded, he really hadn’t seen that coming.


	27. Chapter 27

It was a couple of days before Lorelai dared to ask Rory how things were with Jess. As far as she could tell, whatever had happened over the weekend was now fixed, since Rory had stopped slamming doors and hiding in her room. She wasn’t exactly full of the joys of spring, but Lorelai knew better than to expect that all of the time, just because Rory had settled into the Hollow a little. Still, she seemed better, calmer, less with the angry girl music of the indie rock persuasion.

“So, kid, how’s tricks?” she asked carefully as she flipped off the TV and faced her daughter.

“Fine?” said Rory, glancing up from her book. “You?”

“Also fine.” Lorelai nodded, pulling her legs up under herself on the couch. “Good book?”

“Not bad.” Rory nodded. “Is there something specific you wanted to ask me? Because this feels like it’s going somewhere and it’d probably be easier if you just told me where already.”

“Nothing earth shattering,” Lorelai assured her, waving away any concerns she might have. “Just making conversation. You haven’t been so chatty lately, I’m just checking in with you, you know, like moms do sometimes.”

“Right,” said Rory, putting the marker in her book and tossing it onto the table. “School is fine. Boring, normal, for the most part. Francie seems to have moved on to some new victim, she didn’t even have time to glare at me in the cafeteria today, while Paris seems to have decided we’re friends now, which honestly, freaks me out a little.”

“From what Jess has told me about Paris, that is understandable.”

“Speaking of Jess, he is also fine, which you should know since we see him at the diner most days, but just in case you were wondering, he and I, also fine. My homework is done, the book I’m reading is interesting, and the new shampoo we got on sale at Doose’s is actually working out pretty well. That is literally all the news I have.”

“Well, that was very informative, thank you.” Lorelai nodded, hardly able to keep the smile from her lips.

“You asked to be caught up, I caught you up,” said Rory defensively.

“I know, sweets, I was just... Well, I was making general conversation. You know, light, breezy, mother-daughter bonding type stuff. I don’t want you to feel like you have to give me a report, as if it were an assignment for school or whatever.”

Rory sighed heavily and rubbed her forehead. She knew that wasn’t what Lorelai wanted. She knew she just wanted to be like a real mother and daughter, but honestly, Rory didn’t know how to do that any more than Lorelai did. Sometimes she wished she did, but she really didn’t.

It was almost as complicated as learning how to be a girlfriend... with a virginal boyfriend no less. Rory really, really wished that didn’t freak her out as much as it did. She kind of wished she could talk to Lorelai about it too, but she knew there was no way. Jess would be beyond embarrassed if he thought her mom knew that kind of secret and Rory would never do that to him.

“Jess and me... we had a misunderstanding,” she said instead. “It was not fun, but we figured it out, kind of.”

“Why only kind of?” asked Lorelai, leaning her head on her hand and frowning a little.

“It’s complicated.” Rory shook her head. “And private. Not that I wouldn’t tell you it’s just... not my thing to tell. It’s Jess’ stuff, I can’t-”

“I would never ask you to,” her mom assured her. “But hey, if I could just give you some general advice, and God knows, I’m no relationship expert, not at all, but I do know that talking is really important. It sounds clichéd, I know, but it’s true. Also, sometimes just being there when somebody needs you, to hold their hand, to tell them you still care, it can make a big difference, and not just in romantic relationships, it’s the same for any kind, really.”

Rory wasn’t sure how much that stuff applied in these circumstances, but she did appreciate that Lorelai was trying to help, even without knowing exactly what she was trying to help with. She also noted that her mom was talking about all types of relationships, and couldn’t help but realise Lorelai really did practice what she preached.

She had tried her best to be there for Rory in all kinds of situations over the past few months. Sure, the nastier, more bitter streak in Rory was quick to recall that Lorelai should’ve tried being there for the last few years when she was really needed, but it was getting easier to push that aside lately, to let go of some of the anger and hate. After all, it had never really done her any good to hold onto it anyway.

“I never did ask you about your date with Luke,” she said suddenly. “How’d that go?”

“Oh, um... it went,” said Lorelai vaguely, almost nervously, Rory thought. “I mean, it wasn’t exactly a date, it was just me and Luke being me and Luke.”

“You’re really bad at that.” Rory smiled, unable to help it. “Come on, I’m the one who thought you two were already together when I first moved here. You can like him, it’s not a crime.”

Lorelai smiled too. “You’re too smart, babe, you know that?”

“Sometimes,” Rory agreed. “So, you do like Luke?”

“I do like Luke. I’m not even sure I realised how much until lately. So, how do you feel about that?”

“About you liking Luke?” Rory checked.

Lorelai nodded.

“Whatever,” she said, shrugging her shoulders. “I mean, he’s a nice guy, as far as I can tell. I didn’t actually know there were people who could just be so... decent like that, you know?”

“I do know,” Lorelai agreed. “Luke’s just that way. Jess too, actually.”

“That’s true. So, you and Luke, that’s happening?”

“Well, nothing has happened, not yet,” Lorelai explained, pulling loose threads on the corner of a pillow and barely even looking at Rory. “We talked about maybe going out on a date, a real one, not a town-sanctioned picnic-type deal, but... well, honestly, we were a little worried about how you and Jess might react. The last thing either of us would ever want to do is make you guys uncomfortable.”

Rory wasn’t sure what she was supposed to say to that. Having her feelings and opinions considered important by those around her was new. Emily was usually giving orders, telling Rory what she was supposed to be doing, saying, wearing, being, thinking even. Richard wasn’t always so bad, but he had his moments. They both thought they knew best, to such a degree that it made Rory just want to do every possible thing that was what they didn’t want her to do. Lorelai was very different.

“If you want to date Luke, I’m okay with it,” she said after a while. “For the record, I think Jess would be too.”

That got such a brilliant, beaming smile out of Lorelai that Rory was doubly glad she had said it now. She didn’t even mind when her mom suddenly dived off the couch to come over and give her a big hug.

“You are the best kid, sweets. You know that, right?”

“Sure, whatever you say,” Rory muttered.

She couldn’t have said anymore if she wanted to. The lump in her throat was too big.

* * *

Jess hadn’t exactly been in the best mood lately, which was why Luke hadn’t broached the subject of Lorelai and the whole potential dating thing yet. He knew she was waiting on a change in Rory’s mood too, and apparently, that had finally occurred.

Luke had just got off the phone from a thoroughly excitable Lorelai who was pleased to tell him she had now talked to Rory and that everything was cool. She had apparently even said that Jess was likely to be okay with the dating too, which gave Luke some hope. Still, he had to wonder, if Rory was so easy to talk to at this point, why Jess still seemed less than chipper.

They needed to make a trip to the wholesalers. Well, Luke needed to, and figuring it might be easier to talk to Jess away from town and in a place where he couldn’t so easily run away, uncle convinced nephew to come along to help with the heavy lifting. Jess agreed without any argument, but there was no enthusiasm in him either, not for anything these past few days.

On the way to the wholesalers, Luke attempted to make general conversation. He asked about school, about Rory, about anything he thought Jess might actually talk about, but every answer was short and sharp. It wasn’t like him at all, but Luke noted with some concern that this was the same kind of moody that he saw in his sister sometimes during the teen years. That bothered him more than a little.

With the truck loaded up, and Jess complaining that he couldn’t see why Luke even needed his help with so little to carry, they started the journey home again. Luke huffed out a breath and switched off the radio, giving Jess a look when he reached to put it back on.

“No, not this time,” he said definitely. “Look, Jess, something is on your mind. I know it and you know it, and I get that you don’t want to talk about it, and maybe in your shoes I wouldn’t want to either but... well, I’m worried about you, buddy,” he told him, glancing from the road to look at him a moment. “If something is going on, I just want to help.”

Jess wanted to be angry at his uncle for interfering. He would love to throw a real teenage fit, all furious and indignant, but he knew that wasn’t fair. Most guys his age were all for telling their parents they didn’t ask to be born, that they didn’t understand, that their life was never this hard. Jess was too smart for that.

Sure, he had a crappy start in life. His father ran out on him, his mother gave him up because other things, like men and drugs, were more important that he was. The thing was, Jess never really suffered, because he had Luke. He also had a grandfather who loved him, but unfortunately, he had been gone a long time now. Still, Luke never gave up. Somehow the guy raised Jess, ran a business, and coped with everybody else’s problems piled right on top of his own, and most of the time, he didn’t even complain. Now, all he wanted to do was help, again. The problem was, he really couldn’t.

“It’s nothing,” Jess assured him. “Nothing you can do anything about anyway.”

“You sure about that?” Luke checked. “I mean, you do know that despite the fact you’ve always thought of me as some grumpy old man, I was a teenager once. I do know what it can be like.”

Jess smirked at that. “I’m sorry, you weren’t born with the stubble and the backwards hat?” he checked.

“You want help or you want a smack upside your head?” Luke asked him with a look, though they both knew he was nothing like serious.

There was a moment or two of silence in which Jess looked very deliberately out of the passenger window. Then he finally seemed to be ready to talk about what was bothering him.

“You date a lot in high school?”

“Some, not a lot,” said Luke, unsure where this was going. “You know, not a lot of serious dating.”

“How old were you? When you started the serious dating?”

“How serious?” Luke frowned a little, before glancing at his nephew and seeing the look on his face. “Oh, _serious_ ,” he said, putting his eyes firmly back on the road and clearing his throat twice. “Geez, I don’t know, Jess. Sixteen, maybe?”

When Jess didn’t say anymore, Luke had a horrible feeling that was the wrong answer somehow.

“Look, I know there’s the whole legal angle, and what’s considered decent and everything,” he said, trying to find the words and struggling terribly. “Uh, but the truth is, everybody is different, and everybody makes different choices. It really depends on the people involved and what makes them comfortable and... and safety. Safety is important, feeling safe, and... and making sure that you are safe from, you know, problems.”

“Breathe, Luke,” Jess urged him, sounding more amused than awkward by now as his uncle practically hyperventilated beside him. “Rory’s not pregnant and neither of us has anything... infectious,” he confirmed, watching Luke visibly sink back into the seat with genuine relief.

“Always good to know,” he confirmed.

Jess took a deep breath and let it out slow. This was not a fun conversation, he knew it wouldn’t be, but now he had started, he figured he may as well press on. Talking to Luke had to be better than the whole gymnastic routine his brain had been going through by itself these past few days.

“Actually, the problem isn’t what we’ve done together, me and Rory, I mean,” he explained, looking everywhere but at Luke. “It’s... it’s more what she’s done that I haven’t, at all,” he said pointedly.

He felt Luke look at him for a second before his eyes returned to the road, but never looked up himself. He couldn’t bear to.

“Oh.”

“Yeah. Oh,” Jess echoed, squirming in his seat.

“Well, hey, nobody should feel bad about what they haven’t done, or what they have, necessarily,” said Luke quickly. “There should be no judging.”

“There’s not.”

“That’s good.”

“Honestly? She’s been cool about it,” Jess explained, smiling slightly as he thought of Rory. “I haven’t, but she has. I just feel like...”

“Like?” Luke prompted when his voice trailed away.

They both seemed to have decided that if they’d come this far, they may as well get the whole conversation out of the way and be done. Still, this particular confession caught in Jess’ throat.

“You wouldn’t get it,” he insisted, shaking his head.

“I might,” Luke countered.

“I’m pretty sure there has never been a moment in your life when you haven’t felt like... like you’re not man enough for someone or something.”

“Oh, Jess,” Luke actually almost laughed at that moment, which might have hurt if Jess hadn’t been so intrigued by the reaction. “Seriously, kid, you have no idea,” Luke insisted. “You know, your grandfather, he was a great man and, it was not his fault, but there were so many times when I was a teenager that I looked at him and I felt like such a pathetic excuse for a man. How was I ever going to live up to what he was, how great he was? Now, I do okay, don’t I? I mean, you just said so.”

“You do,” Jess assured him, nodding his head. “I mean, I know that you’re... Well, just because you’re actually my uncle, you know that I-”

“I know,” Luke promised, sparing him a glance and a smile that wouldn’t shift. “You know, Jess, being a man isn’t about any one thing that you do or don’t do. It’s not always about running a business or raising a kid or... or being intimate with your girlfriend,” he said, choking on a couple of those awkward words again before he could continue. “It’s a whole lot of other stuff. It’s about being a decent person, having respect and being respected and... You know, your grandfather would’ve explained this way better than I am?”

Jess smiled and looked at his uncle. “You’re doing okay.”

Luke nodded his thanks for that and pressed on regardless.

“Well, on the main topic that you raised, I personally think it’s a good thing that you and Francie never... because that was not a great relationship.”

“I know,” Jess admitted, “but Rory, she’s amazing. I really do care about her, a lot.”

“Yeah, I know that you do,” Luke agreed. “I’m pretty sure she feels the same way about you too, and if she’s been so cool about what you told her, it clearly doesn’t matter to her. The truth is, when you really love someone, that stuff never does matter as much as people think.” There was silence for a moment or two and then Luke glanced Jess’ way one more time. “So, you’re okay?”

“I’m okay,” Jess promised, nodding his head. “And thanks, Uncle Luke.”

“No problem, kid,” Luke assured him as they finally turned the corner that brought them back to the diner.

They unloaded all the supplies in record time and were soon heading for home. When they got there, it was strange to realise there was a car right out front of their house, some beaten up station wagon that neither Luke nor Jess recognised at all.

“What the hell...?” Luke grumbled as he put the truck in park behind the other vehicle.

Jess’ eyes went wide as he saw the driver’s door opening and a woman stepping out onto the sidewalk, waving like a crazy person.

“You have got to be kidding me,” he said as he opened his door and almost felt out of the truck in shock.

“Hey, there they are! My guys!” the woman called, rushing at them with arms outstretched for a hug.

Jess was completely blindsided as he was pulled close, not even bothering to hug back. When she finally let him go, he just continued to stare at her, wide-eyed.

“What are you doing here, Liz?”


	28. Chapter 28

Maybe it wasn’t the smartest thing he ever did, but Jess couldn’t help it, he just had to get out. Running away from his problems probably made him more like a child than the adult he claimed to be, but when it came to Liz, he often felt like a kid, the same little boy she ran out on and disappointed too many times before.

Jess tried not to let it bother him most of the time that his parents were both absent from his life, one completely, one just mostly. Actually, he often thought Jimmy was the better of the two in some ways. At least when he left, he went for good, never called, never visited. Jess could pass the guy in the street and never know about it. It was better than what Liz did.

Visits from Jess’ mother were always the same. She started with the standards - how much Jess had grown, how great he looked, how amazing Luke was for raising ‘her boy’ so well. She always made it seem like she had come visiting because she wanted to, because she loved her brother and her son, because they were just the best and happiest little family. It usually took around a half hour or so of questioning, often from Luke since Jess never really did know what to say to Liz, before the truth came tumbling out. She needed money, a place to stay, a helping hand of some sort. There was usually a guy too, the one she just left, the one that just left her, the one that went back to his wife, the one who gave her the black eye.

It was times like this that Jess wished he had some bad habits to fall back on. Last time Liz came around had been more than two years ago, after which he had decided to take a leaf out of her book, getting seriously drunk on Miss Patty’s Founders Day punch. Jess had never been so sick in his whole life as he was that day, declaring that he would never drink again for as long as he lived. While that was unlikely to be true in the end, Jess knew he didn’t want a drink in times of crisis. He honestly didn’t know what he did want to do, except get as far away from Liz as possible.

His feet took him to the bridge over the lake without him even thinking about it. He got a real surprise when he arrived there and found someone seemingly waiting for him.

“Rory?”

“Hey,” she said, squinting slightly as she looked up at him, the setting sun blinding her from over his shoulder. “You okay?”

“Should I ask you that?” he asked, walking out along the bridge to join her and eyeing the cigarette in her hand with curiousity more than anything else.

“I’m fine, or I will be,” she said, shrugging her shoulders as she took another drag off her cigarette. “I’m guessing you’d feel better if I put this out, right?”

Jess didn’t answer, just picked the half-smoked cigarette from her fingers and stared at it a moment before bringing it to his lips.

Rory watched him closely, wondering what Jess’ reaction would be, and also if he had ever done such a thing before. She would lay money this was the first time a cigarette had been anywhere near his mouth. The coughing fit that he had after one drag certainly seemed to prove her right.

“Wow. Welcome to amateur hour,” she said, biting her lip to keep from laughing as she rubbed his back. “What was that about?”

“I read somewhere people smoke to deal with stress,” Jess told her, still coughing a little as he threw the rest of the cigarette into the water.

“And you’re stressed?” Rory checked, her hand still at his back.

“Aren’t you?” he countered, meeting her eyes.

Rory shrugged. “Yes and no. It’s not an every day thing. Still, I guess I’m better at hiding this habit than some of the others. You didn’t know?”

Jess’ shrug mirrored hers and he smirked, borrowing her words too. “Yes and no. I suspected a couple of times, but it’s not my business. Your habit, your body.”

“I don’t mind you having an interest in my body,” she told him, smirking just the same as she leaned in closer to kiss him.

Jess let her lips meet his but his lack of response proved he wasn’t in the mood. It was enough to let Rory know that something really was bothering him. Maybe she should’ve guessed from the way he took her cigarette from her, the way he talked about being stressed. Now she just felt stupid, not having a clue how to help him. She opened her mouth to at least ask what was wrong, just when he seemed to decide to tell her anyway.

“Liz showed up. My mom,” he clarified when Rory looked confused. “She just appeared, like always, expecting Luke to bail her out of another mess, expecting me to... expecting me to give a damn,” he said, slamming his hands against the bridge in what seemed to be frustration.

Rory reached inside her jacket for the pack of cigarettes and shook it until two stuck out of the top.

“Wanna give it another try?” she asked, proffering the pack at Jess.

He thought about it for all of five seconds before he nodded and took a cigarette. It was weird to Rory how the disapproving faces of both Lorelai and Luke flashed through her mind when she lit Jess’ cigarette and advised him on holding the smoke in his mouth before inhaling so as not to choke this go around. Maybe it wasn’t the best thing to teach her boyfriend, how to develop a bad habit she had never been able to completely kick herself, one that could do them both harm, but right in this moment, she didn’t care enough not to do it.

“Look at you, you’re a natural,” she said with a smile she couldn’t help as she watched Jess inhale and exhale successfully without coughing up a lung.

He tried to smile back but couldn’t quite manage it. “How long have you been doing this?”

“I don’t know.” Rory shook her head. “A bunch of girls were doing it, about three boarding schools ago. It was my first week there and it seemed like a good way to fit in. Besides, they told me it was calming, and I needed some calm back then.”

“As opposed to now when you’re always so level-headed?” Jess teased her.

Rory bumped his shoulder with her own and they both laughed. Unfortunately, it didn’t last long.

“So, your mom. You never really talk about her.”

“Not much to talk about.” Jess shook his head. “Luke raised me, along with my grandpa when he was still alive. Liz is just... She just shows up, screws up everything, and leaves again. It’s what she does. Seriously, I have more respect for Jimmy. At least when he left, he meant it.”

“You never met him?”

“Nope.”

“Wow.” Rory took another drag off her cigarette. “I was ten before I met Christopher.”

“You seen him much since then?” asked Jess, watching her closely.

“Not much,” she admitted, looking out across the water.

They never talked about their parents, not once. Jess knew little pieces of her story via Luke who had the whole tale from Lorelai. Rory didn’t know much of anything about his situation either, just that his parents left him with Luke and that was who raised him. It seemed easier most of the time not to talk about it, not to think about it, if they could help it, but sometimes, these things just couldn’t be ignored.

“We talk sometimes, me and Christopher,” said Rory in the growing darkness. “It’s not a regular thing but he calls, I call.”

Jess played with the cigarette between his fingers then braved another drag. He seemed to have got the knack now, he didn’t even feel like coughing anymore.

“Does Lorelai know?”

Rory shook her head. “You know, she told me that her and Luke are... I don’t know, thinking about dating?” she said, unsure how best to phrase it. “She definitely likes him.”

“Huh. He likes her too.” Jess nodded. “He never told me exactly, but it’s pretty clear.”

“Yeah,” Rory agreed, taking one more drag before throwing her spent cigarette into the water.

Jess followed her example and did the same, looking at her the same moment she looked at him. His hand reached out to push her hair from her face and she leaned into his touch.

“I should probably head back,” he told her.

“You don’t have to,” she reminded him. “You don’t owe her anything.”

“It’s not about her.” Jess shook his head. “Luke’s probably freaking out, thinking I threw myself in the lake or something.” He rolled his eyes.

“You’re too smart to think she matters that much,” Rory said confidently.

“Maybe.” Jess sighed. “I don’t know, Ror,” he admitted, hand sliding away from her face. “What does it say about me that my parents are both screw ups who can’t even stand to be around me?”

“I don’t know. What does it say about me?” she countered, getting his attention back in a second. “I mean, sure, Lorelai’s trying now, but before?” She shook her head. “People were not exactly clamouring to be a part of my life for a long time. At least you always had Luke.”

“Yeah, the poor sap really got dumped on.”

“Hey,” Rory sounded mad and looked much the same when Jess met her eyes then. “He was _not_ dumped on. You... Jess, your parents are idiots. You... you’re worth so much more than that. You are.”

The words weren’t much, but what was behind them, what was woven between them was everything. She was looking at him with an intensity he had seen plenty of times before but never quite like this, never with so much meaning. If he didn’t know better, he would’ve sworn he heard ‘I love you’ in between the words she actually said.

Pulling her close, Jess crashed his lips against Rory’s own, kissing her deeply until neither of them could bear to be without breath a moment longer. They parted, neither sure exactly what just happened, but knowing it meant something more than it seemed on the surface. Kissing was second nature to them. This was unquestionably something else.

“You said you should head back,” said Rory, wondering why her voice came out so soft.

“You said I didn’t have to,” he reminded her.

Rory smiled. “You don’t. I just thought you wanted to.”

“Not really.” Jess shook his head. “Uh, you never told me why you were out here. What stressed you out?”

Rory glanced away, feeling foolish. Jess had real problems, hers suddenly seemed dumb by comparison. Still, if he wanted her to share, she probably should. It was kind of one-sided otherwise and she was trying harder to not let that happen with them.

“Richard and Emily heard about my PSAT scores,” she said, gaze still fixed on the water. “He called the house, all ‘Congratulations’ and ‘That’s our smart girl.’ I was never really their girl.” Her eyes closed for a moment as she steeled herself then turned to Jess and forced a smile. “Doesn’t matter. I guess I have Lorelai now and you always had Luke, and from what she tells me, they plan on having each other... Oh God, I didn’t mean that the way it came out,” she said literally face-palming.

Jess laughed, he couldn’t help it. His arm went around Rory’s back pulling her closer until her head landed on his shoulder. He kissed the top of her head like the most natural thing in the world and they were just quiet for a little while.

“Is Luke going to kill me for giving you cigarettes?” asked Rory then.

“Doubtful, since I don’t plan on telling him about it,” Jess assured her.

“He’s not stupid. He’ll smell smoke on you.”

“So, I’ll tell him I went somewhere where people were smoking. It’s not a lie.”

“It’s close to being a lie,” said Rory, smirking some as she picked her head up off his shoulder and looked at him. “I’m starting to think you’re not entirely a good boy, Jess Danes,” she teased him.

“Well, there’s evidence to suggest you’re not entirely a bad girl, Rory Gilmore,” he countered, his forehead pressing against hers. “Thank you for this.”

“For what?”

“I don’t know, just being here when I needed you to be here. Listening, not judging. Just for being you.” He kissed her softly one more time and then sighed. “I really should go.”

Rory nodded slowly and let him slip away. When he got up, she stayed seated, reaching for her cigarettes and lighter. She watched Jess walk away off the bridge before she lit up, inhaled, and blew a long stream of smoke into the ever-darkening sky.

A lot of stuff in her life still sucked, a lot of the people still made her crazy, but Rory couldn’t ever really be sorry she had been sent to Stars Hollow the way she had. As scary as it was to realise, Jess was the reason she could deal with it. He made it all worth it. She only hoped he wasn’t about to realise that she really wasn’t worth all of the trouble that seemed to follow her everywhere she went.


	29. Chapter 29

“You’re sure you’re going to be okay?” Luke checked for what had to be the hundredth time, or maybe it just felt that way to Jess because he was already pretty aggravated.

“Geez, Uncle Luke, I don’t know. I mean, I’m only seventeen years old, I’m sure one night alone in the house will be just impossible for me to deal with,” he said, rolling his eyes.

“Don’t be a wiseass” said Luke crossly. “I have had enough wiseass from her this week already, okay?”

By her he meant Liz, of course. She had been staying at the house for four days now and Jess was just about ready to crack. There was only so much cheek-pinching, over-zealous but worthless compliments, and random hugging he could handle, and he reached his limit a while back.

It seemed his mother had some problems with her latest apartment and the guy that came with it. Luke had promised to get her out of a jam, as always, which resulted in her staying in the Hollow until the next weekend, when Luke finally had the time to go back to New York with her and fix everything. As far as Jess knew, that meant paying off debts, changing locks, and possibly warning off a guy or two. It was what he always did and Jess would not be sorry when it was done so he could avoid seeing Liz again for, hopefully, another two years.

“Caesar knows he’s in charge, I have enough staff rostered that you don’t need to be there unless you really have a yen to wipe tables and pour coffee today.”

“I’ll resist the urge,” Jess said with a smirk he couldn’t help. “There’s a paper I’ve been trying to get to all week, not easy with her here,” he said of Liz. “I’ll probably spend most of my time on that.”

“Uh-huh. So, you didn’t invite Rory over?” asked Luke, looking everywhere but at Jess. “I mean, I’m not saying you should, or you shouldn’t. I’m just saying... Well, I thought maybe you had that kind of plan,” he said, clearing his throat and adjusting his cap.

“I might see Rory later,” Jess admitted, “but it’s not a plan. I mean, she knows you’re going to New York today and won’t be back until tomorrow, but she didn’t say she was coming by and I didn’t actually invite her. Relax, Luke,” he told him, one hand patting his shoulder. “You gave me the talk, repeatedly. I’m good.”

Luke just nodded and hurried from the room, muttering about errands and things he had probably forgotten. Jess couldn’t blame him. Talking about sex with Luke made him want to run too. He had to think it was something that his uncle trusted him alone in the house for the night when he knew there was an experienced girlfriend on the scene and the topic of sex had come up at least once. Not that Jess had made that plan, he was being honest when he told Luke that. Of course, that didn’t mean the thought hadn’t crossed his mind.

* * *

Rory wandered out of her room into the kitchen, earbuds firmly in and punk rock blaring, as she hunted down a snack. She found coffee in the pot that appeared to still be close to hot so poured herself a cup. She had it halfway to her lips when Lorelai suddenly appeared in the doorway. The two of them jumped at the same time, coffee splashing to the tile and missing Rory’s socks by an inch.

“Geez, that was close,” she remarked, pulling out one earbud.

“Sorry, hon.” Lorelai winced, reaching for the kitchen towel to clean up the mess. “But hey, accidents happen.”

She smiled when she said it and yet the very next moment she was wincing again, almost like she wished she hadn’t said it at all. Rory wasn’t sure what that was about. She backed up towards the table and sat down on the nearest chair, putting her dripping coffee cup on yesterday’s paper.

“You have something you need to say to me, or something you want to ask me?” she said, watching Lorelai closely.

“Me?” her mother checked, looking up at her. “Um, nothing special, I don’t think.”

“Huh.” Rory rolled her eyes. “You get this look when you need to talk to me about something that you think I’m not going to like, something awkward or... Oh, God, is this about Jess being alone in his house tonight?” she checked, shaking her head. “I already told you, he hasn’t even invited me over, and if I did go over there, it would not automatically mean-”

“Rory, I said nothing,” Lorelai cut in fast. “However,” she continued a moment later, sinking down into the chair opposite her daughter, “I do need to check something with you.”

“Let me save you the awkwardness of actually phrasing the question.” Rory told her, getting up as fast as Lorelai sat down and storming into her bedroom.

She returned within seconds, slamming a plastic container of recognisable shape and type onto the table, followed by her purse.

“Birth control pills,” she said, just in case Lorelai didn’t know. “I take them regularly, never skip one,” she assured her mother, “and, since I know that they can be affected by a lot of things, like interactions with other drugs or getting a stomach flu or whatever, and don’t stop other bad things from happening, I also have these,” she said, dragging a box of condoms from her purse and slamming those down too. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but I am not dumb enough to get pregnant in high school.”

Lorelai bit her tongue and nodded her head. She couldn’t really argue with what Rory just said. It was pretty stupid to get into a situation like that and Lorelai had no wish for Rory to end up the same way she had, not at all. She wasn’t exactly sorry to know she was being careful, doubly so as it turned out, but she also wasn’t prepared to be spoken to in quite that way in her own house. It just took her a minute before she could truly verbalise all that she needed to say.

“Thank you,” she said eventually, looking up at Rory in time to see her eyes get wider with surprise. “Seriously, thank you,” she repeated to make sure she understood. “You know, I’ll be honest, I would actually much prefer that you had not had sex with the number of guys I’m assuming there have been, and you can think that’s hypocritical if you want, but actually, Christopher was my first and my only back then. In high school, at least, there was no-one else and... and I did love him. Not that it’s any of your business, but we seem to be in honesty hour, so there it is.”

“Are we done?” Rory asked after a moment of silence.

“No.” Lorelai shook her head, rising up from her seat as her volume rose a little too. “No, Rory, I’m sorry, we are not done. Now, like I said, I’d rather not know what you’ve clearly been doing with guys for a while now, but I have to admit, I am at least glad that you’re being smart about it. And yes, I’m very glad that you’re not going to end up in my situation because it was hard. Nobody knows better than you how tough it was, because you suffered just as much as I did as a consequence, I know that, but that does not mean you get to look at me or speak to me the way you just did, not in my house,” she said firmly.

Rory stepped back towards her bedroom a pace, but didn’t bolt. Her eyes stung with angry tears as well as sad ones, but she wouldn’t shed either, she just wouldn’t.

“You can’t tell me that you wanted to be pregnant at sixteen. You just made it pretty clear you’d be all kinds of pissed if it happened to me.”

“Absolutely,” Lorelai agreed easily. “Yes, Rory, I would be mad if you let that happen to yourself, but do you wanna know what else? As dumb as it was to get pregnant so young, as stupid and irresponsible as it was and as much pain as it caused in the end, if I had a time machine and I could go back and make it so it never happened, I wouldn’t.”

Now Lorelai had tears in her eyes too and she wasn’t doing such a good job of holding them back. Rory swallowed hard, not knowing what she was supposed to say to that, hardly daring to imagine what the words really meant.

“I regret a lot of things in my life, kid,” Lorelai told her then, a shake in her voice and in her step as she moved closer, “but Rory, I would not trade you for the whole entire world,” she said definitely. “If I could do it over, I’d change some things, no question. I’d raise you myself for one thing. I’d be stronger and better and a real mom from the start. God knows how, but I’d do it, come hell or high water. What I would never do is change my life so that you weren’t in it. Never, ever. You understand me?”

Rory couldn’t answer. She physically couldn’t do it. There was a lump in her throat that felt like it might just choke her, and when she even managed a half-hearted nod she regretted it as the tears she had been fighting rolled down her cheeks unchecked.

When Lorelai reached to hug her, she didn’t have the strength to fend her off or to try and get away. Rory just let it happen and, after a few seconds, she hugged her mother back. What else could she do after a confession like that?

* * *

Jess stared at the page of his own handwriting, trying to figure out where the hell he was supposed to be going with the paragraph he had left half-written. Frankly, he had no idea and couldn’t care enough to try and concentrate anymore. Throwing down his pen, he watched it hit the table at a weird angle, bounce off, and disappear out of view. He took it as a sign, leaning back in his chair with his hands over his face, quite deciding to give in.

His mind was elsewhere. Pretty much everywhere but where it belonged, actually. Earlier, the problem had been Liz and Luke and wondering how things would go in New York, but now it was Rory that was on his mind. He had only been in town a few minutes this afternoon, just picking up a couple of books from Andrew’s store and some stationery supplies for school on the way back, but it was enough. The usual gossips were hanging around on the corner, Miss Patty, Babette, and East Side Tilly. Jess heard them talking on his approach from behind and stopped in his tracks when he heard Rory’s name.

“It’s hardly surprising is it?” said Tilly, making a tutting sound. “I mean, that Lorelai seems like a nice girl, but how young must she had been when she had Rory?”

“Sixteen is what I heard,” said Patty, blowing smoke from her cigarette. “But she’s such a good girl now, and we’re all entitled to one mistake.”

“Doesn’t mean the kid is any better than she oughta be, sugar,” Babette noted. “I mean, have you seen those clothes and the make up? Geez, talk about a painted lady.”

“Oh, darling, you’re being a prude,” Patty insisted. “She’s just expressing herself.”

“From what I’ve seen, she expresses herself all over the Danes boy any chance she gets,” Tilly reminded them. “You don’t suppose he’s the one that-”

“Sugar, we don’t even know yet if she is. All I said was Maury saw her in the store with the box in her hand.”

“She could have been getting it for a friend, I suppose,” Miss Patty considered, “but...”

Jess didn’t stop to hear anymore. It seemed pretty clear what they were implying and he sure as hell did not want to know about it. There was no way Rory was pregnant, that was insane. They hadn’t even slept together yet. Of course, Jess was half way home before the sickening thought hit him that Rory didn’t have to be having sex with _him_ in order to be pregnant. There were other guys. There had been Tristan Dugray not so long ago.

Since then, Jess had bounced back and forth between telling himself the town gossips were just that, gossips who often got things wrong, and wondering if he should go and confront Rory about cheating on him. Jess didn’t want to ask her that, didn’t want to accuse her. Hell, he didn’t even want to think she would do that to him, she couldn’t, he was sure.

Unless she had gone elsewhere because she wasn’t getting what she wanted from him.

Too many thoughts in Jess’ head were making him crazy. He really was going to have to talk to Rory, though he had no idea what exactly he was going to say. Just when he had quite decided he had to go over to her house, there was a knock on the door. It seemed like a perfect twist of fate when he went to see who was there and found his girlfriend on the porch.

“Hey,” she said, smiling widely. “So, Lorelai had an inn emergency. Not that I couldn’t have come over anyway, I don’t actually think she would’ve physically restrained me but, you know, responsible adults versus teenagers and their hormones alone in a house.” She rolled her eyes. “I’m pretty sure they actually think more about this stuff than we do.”

It was only when she was done talking and really looked at Jess that Rory realised how strangely he was staring at her. She couldn’t quite make out if he was mad about something or just upset. With everything that had been going on with Liz, she figured it was probably a little of both.

“I can leave again,” she offered, hiking one thumb over her shoulder, and still he didn’t react. “Jess?”

“They’re talking about you in town,” he suddenly blurted out. “Stupid stuff, nothing I believe, but they’re talking.”

“Oh, you heard about that?” Rory rolled her eyes. “Yeah, Lorelai too. She and I had a real nice talk about all the sex I _haven’t_ been having,” she said with particular emphasis. “Not that I told her about... you know, you and me, and why not.”

Jess nodded that he understood before suddenly seeming to realise they were still on the doorstep which was not the place for this kind of conversation, at all. He moved aside and ushered Rory in, unsure where the sigh of relief came from as he closed the door and they headed down the hall.

“I swear, that is the last time I decide to be in any way a responsible adult and pick fallen product up from the floor at the market,” said Rory as they walked through. “Oh, you’re busy,” she said then, noting the papers and books on the table.

“Not really.” Jess shook his head. “Couldn’t concentrate.”

“What was on your mind?”

It came as a surprise when he suddenly pulled her close and kissed her long and hard on the lips.

“Is it corny if I say, ‘you’?”

“No,” she replied breathlessly. “Not corny. It’s nice actually.”

Jess seemed to bristle at her choice of words. “Nice? Really? Yeah, that would be me, Jess Danes, nice guy,” he said, hands suddenly gone from her body as he stepped away and dropped into the chair by the table.

“Take it from someone who has known their share of not-so-nice guys,” said Rory definitely. “Nice is good. Bad boys are fun and all, but they lose their appeal after a while,” she continued, moving closer, sitting down in the next chair over and trying to meet Jess’ eyes. “You know, you’re the first guy that ever...” she trailed away the moment he looked at her. “Um, I was talking to Lorelai before,” she said instead. “She, uh, she said Christopher was the only guy she was with in high school. She also said that if she could go back, she wouldn’t change what happened. Turns out I’m not a regret. Who knew?” She rolled her eyes and almost laughed at her own joke, though it wasn’t really funny.

“She loves you, Rory,” Jess told her, taking a hold of both her hands in both of his own and entwining their fingers. “It’s not exactly a big ask,” he said getting her full attention back in a second.

She had to swallow hard before she spoke again. “If I could go back, I’d change things,” she admitted. “I could come here sooner, to Stars Hollow. I could meet you before...”

“Before?” he echoed, momentarily at a loss mostly from the way she was looking at him right now.

“Before anybody else,” she explained, wondering when her own voice got so quiet - he seemed to have that effect on her a lot lately. “Jess...”

He pulled her closer and she moved to meet his waiting lips. This wasn’t what she came here for, not really, and despite what Luke had thought, Jess never did invite Rory for this reason or any other. Still, she was here now and he was suddenly so sure this was the right thing, that everything was right about this whole situation.

It seemed as if they were on the same page. Rory sank down until she was straddling his lap, very deliberately shifting against him. Jess moaned against her mouth. He was vaguely wondering how the chair hadn’t tipped over yet, but honestly, Rory was making him see stars, and he soon stopped caring about anything but her and what was happening between them.

Until suddenly the front door slammed loudly.

Apparently, Luke had decided to come home tonight after all.


	30. Chapter 30

Luke hadn’t actually caught Rory and Jess in the act. To be fair, they hadn’t got quite that far, but it was tough to pull apart and act naturally when his uncle walked in. Rory shoved her hands back through her mussed-up hair and adjusted her shirt so her bra didn’t show a second before Luke strolled in. Jess turned his chair so the lower half of his body was under the table, and Rory tried not to smirk because she knew why.

“Rory, you’re here,” said Luke the moment he spotted her.

“Two seconds later and I wouldn’t have been,” she told him, smiling like she meant it. “I don’t want to keep Jess from his studying, I just came to check something with him.”

“Uh-huh.” Luke nodded, staring more at the back of his nephew’s head than at Rory. “He give you what you needed?”

“Mostly,” she said, biting her lip so she didn’t give herself away. “Anyway, I’ll just let myself out.”

She was headed for the door within a second, leaving Luke with a very awkward Jess, who was currently running through every boring, mundane topic in his head that he could possibly think of until it had the effect he was hoping for.

“I thought you were staying over in the city,” he said when he realised Luke was now looking over his shoulder at his essay.

“Didn’t see the point,” his uncle told him, shaking his head. “How’s the paper coming?”

“Not bad.” Jess shrugged.

“Good.” Luke nodded. “I’m gonna go take a shower, wash this day off me.”

“Okay.” Jess nodded just the same, watching for a moment until Luke was gone from the room and then put his face in his hands, muttering to himself. “Worst. Timing. Ever.”

* * *

“I don’t know why, I just had this feeling that something was gonna happen,” said Luke, pacing back and forth amongst the stacks of boxes and over-sized jars of pickles. “I came home and... well, something was happening,” he said with a very particular look on his face.

Lorelai rolled her eyes. “Luke, come on, they were probably just fooling around.”

“At Rory’s age, were you just fooling around?” he countered, immediately regretting it when he saw the pain in Lorelai’s eyes. “Oh, no, I didn’t-”

“It’s fine,” she said, forcing a smile as she waved away his concern. “I don’t know why the truth still hurts, I guess I should be used to it by now,” she said, turning towards the door to leave.

Luke gave chase, grabbing her arm to keep her from walking out. “Lorelai, I’m sorry,” he told her genuinely. “Come on, you know I didn’t mean it the way it came out. I wasn’t talking about you, not specifically. I was seventeen once too and I wasn’t exactly keeping all the girls at arm’s length, if you know what I mean.”

Lorelai sighed even as she pulled her arm from his grasp. She had trouble imagining Luke that way, as a teenager chasing girls. Not that she doubted he was just as good-looking and charming back then as he was now. Maybe life would’ve been easier if they had met in high school. She shook her head free of such thoughts then, bringing herself back to the here and now - the office/storage room above the diner and the two ongoing sagas that were the Rory and Jess romance and the Luke and herself not-quite-a-romance.

“Okay, so I did talk to Rory about... that,” she said with a look, glancing away and feeling awkward bringing sex back into the conversation in any way but there really was no choice. “If it helps you at all, she is all about the precautions, and I know you would have given Jess the talk too.”

“Absolutely.” Luke nodded. “We did have a talk, recently in fact, it’s just that, and don’t take this the wrong way, but it seems like maybe Rory has been doing more than talking in ways that Jess hasn’t.”

“I figured that might be an issue,” Lorelai agreed, “but if they’re being safe and they really like each other. I can’t believe I’m saying this given what happened to me, but maybe it’s better to just let them be.”

“Are you kidding me?” Luke more or less exploded. “Lorelai, we can’t just let it happen.”

“Well, it’s going to whether we want it to or not,” she reminded him crossly. “You think my parents and Chris’ parents weren’t trying to stop us? I’m guessing your dad wasn’t exactly encouraging you to go ahead and make it happen. No parent is telling their kid to go forth and multiply, Luke, but it’s going to happen anyway. Maybe it’s better that at least Rory and Jess are doing what they’re doing in a safe, decent place like your house or my house, than anywhere else.”

Luke visibly deflated in the face of all Lorelai’s valid points.

“You’re probably right,” he admitted. “God, I am not equipped to deal with this,” he said then, running a hand over his face.

“You never seemed this stressed when Jess was dating Francie,” Lorelai noted, arms folded across her chest by now.

“Honestly? I knew they weren’t all that serious about each other.” Luke shook his head. “I mean, sure, technically, they were together a long time, but... it wasn’t real. There were no feelings involved. With Jess and Rory, it’s like... like the complete opposite actually. They seem to have so many feelings about each other.”

“First love hits you like a freight train, Luke.”

“Love?”

“You don’t think that’s what they’re feeling? Because I’d lay every cent I have on it. Not that Rory has said anything to me, or Jess for that matter, but if it’s not love, I don’t know what is.”

Luke just stared at her for a moment, a little shocked by what Lorelai was telling him, a lot ashamed to realise that they had actually come upstairs to get away from the neighbourhood gossips and talk about what might be between them. Instead, he had complained to her about his sister’s latest dumb situation, and then they got into talking about the kids. In fact, their discussion on that topic had bordered too closely for comfort on a fight.

“Lorelai...”

“You know, it was a fun idea,” she said, reaching for the door knob once more, caught between glad and disappointed that Luke let her this time, “but I’m not sure you and me getting any closer is a good plan.”

“Our timing is pretty lousy,” Luke agreed, nodding his head. “Maybe in a couple of weeks, when things are calmer, we can talk about it again?”

“Maybe,” Lorelai agreed, though she barely looked at him at all. “I’ll see you,” she added softly as she headed out the door, closing it with a thud behind her.

* * *

“You’re mad at me, aren’t you?”

Lorelai turned sharply from replacing the coffee pot to look at Rory, finding they were wearing matching frowns.

“I’m not mad,” she confirmed, shaking her head. “Should I be mad? I mean, is there some reason I’m not aware of that would make me wanna be mad at you?”

“I don’t know.” Rory shrugged. “I just thought... You’re in this weird mood, not really talking, when usually you’re going a mile a minute from the second you walk in the door,” she explained, eyes fixed on her own half-filled coffee mug that she was turning around and around on the table. “I figured something has you pissed.”

“Something does.” Lorelai sighed, pulling out the chair and sitting down opposite her daughter. “But please believe, it is not you, babe.”

“Makes a change.” Rory smirked.

“Amen, sister-friend.” Lorelai smirked right back.

It was a weird thing to joke about, but then the relationship between them was never anything but. Mother and daughter who had only really started to behave as if that was what they were all of six months ago. They got along better these days, but whether or not they could ever truly be all that they should to each other was anyone’s guess.

All Rory knew was that Lorelai seemed to be trying her best to be a good friend and even a mom where she could. Jess would never let Rory forget what a great person Lorelai was, and she couldn’t deny she really had been helpful, kind, and patient these last few months. It made Rory want to try harder, to be a friend for Lorelai too. She didn’t seem to have all that many people to lean on either.

“So, if it’s not me, who is it?” she asked carefully, gaze still fixed on her drink - it seemed easier somehow.

Still, she felt Lorelai staring at her for a couple of seconds, clearly trying to decide whether she wanted to tell her daughter about her problems or not. Then she sighed and did it anyway.

“You remember I told you that me and Luke might be... Well, we were considering the possibly of maybe dating?”

“I remember.”

“Well, that’s probably not happening now,” Lorelai told her with a wry smile. “Surprise, surprise, Lorelai Gilmore screws up another relationship, one that didn’t even get off the starting blocks,” she muttered, sipping her coffee.

“I’m sorry,” said Rory genuinely. “It’s obvious how much you like him. I really thought he liked you too.”

“He does,” Lorelai told her fast. “I mean, he said that he did and... that’s not really the problem, the liking each other. It’s more...”

She struggled to find the words and would barely look at Rory to the point where her daughter just knew exactly what the problem was.

“So, it is about me,” she said, pushing her mug away suddenly. “I’m the reason you can’t be with Luke.”

“No, you’re not,” Lorelai insisted, her hand reaching out to grab a hold of Rory’s own. “You hear me? This is _not_ your fault,” she said definitely, looking her right in the eye. “I’m not denying, some of the things that were said did concern you and Jess, but not because you did anything wrong. Luke and I just don’t happen to agree on some stuff, and he said some things, and... Well, we’ll get past it, I’m sure on that, but take it from me, kid, you will _never_ be in any way to blame if me and Luke don’t get along. Plus, I am always going to be supportive of you and on your side, whether it has to do with your relationship with Jess, or school, or anything, okay? You and me, we’re a team now, we are the Gilmore girls, and nobody comes between that. I won’t let it happen.”

It was quite the speech she just made and Rory couldn’t say she didn’t appreciate the sentiment. It did mean something, a lot actually, that Lorelai would stand up for her to Luke, even if it did mean jeopardising what the two of them had. Still, Rory would rather Lorelai didn’t have to make a choice between them.

“Did it have to do with Luke coming home from New York and finding me with Jess?” she asked, sure that had to be the problem.

“The subject came up,” Lorelai admitted, retracting her hand in order to use both when bringing her mug back to her lips. “You guys were... getting close, I take it.”

“We were,” Rory admitted, nodding her head, not at all ashamed of it and yet feeling a little strange saying as much to Lorelai.

“Okay. Well, I know you’re being safe, and the two of you are smart enough to know if you’re ready for that step, so there’s really nothing else for me to say, is there?” said Lorelai, almost sounding a little bitter about it, as if she wished maybe that Rory did need her help here.

It made her want to ask the one question that had been on her mind for a while now, so she forced herself to just do it.

“Is it different?” she said, barely glancing at Lorelai before concentrating on her coffee again, even as it turned cold. “I mean, they say it in books and movies and songs and everything, that it feels different when... when you really love someone.”

The last few words came out quiet and rushed, Rory could hardly believe she had said them at all, but she had and there was no taking them back now. She dared to look at Lorelai from the corner of her eye and saw her mother smile.

“It can be different.” Lorelai nodded. “I mean, I don’t exactly have a massive frame of reference, but there is definitely a difference between just having a good time and... and making love with the right person.”

Rory nodded her understanding, hating that she could feel a burning in her cheeks. She really couldn’t believe they were having this conversation. She so needed a subject change, but it suddenly seemed impossible to think of anything else. She was very grateful when Lorelai found something unrelated and much less embarrassing to say. She was probably just as mortified by the previous conversation as Rory was herself.

“So, I was talking to Sookie about the wedding arrangements. Apparently, she just kind of assumed that you’d be coming along.”

“To her wedding?” Rory asked, wide-eyed with surprise. “I barely know her. Plus, I’m pretty sure I only met her fiancé that one time.”

“I know, but she’s my best friend and you’re my daughter, so she said she wanted you to come. If you want to come that is, you don’t have to,” Lorelai explained. “She’s inviting Luke and Jess too, so I figured you kids could go together, or you could choose not to go and do your own thing if you want. I don’t know how you feel about weddings.”

“I have no problem with weddings.” Rory shook her head. “I guess I could go, if Jess wants to.”

“Okay, cool.” Lorelai smiled across the table at her. “And if you wanted some help shopping for an outfit or if you wanted me to make something for you, we have time for that.”

“Maybe,” said Rory, nodding slowly. “I’ll think about it.”

“Sure, that’s cool,” her mother agreed, glad to at least have come through this whole conversation without any tears or tantrums - things were definitely improving here. “Okay,” she said then, hands flat on the table as she stood up. “Fresh coffee?”

“Sounds good,” Rory agreed with a smile, just as the phone rang out in the hall. “I’ll go,” she said, moving to do just that.

There was a chance it might be Jess, he did say he would call when he knew his shifts for the next week so they could arrange another date. It was a real surprise to hear Emily’s voice on the other end of the line, and a worse one when she told Rory that she was at the hospital. Apparently, Richard had collapsed.


	31. Chapter 31

“I’m sorry,” said Jess, gripping Rory’s hand tighter.

“Why? It’s not your fault,” she told him, shaking her head sadly. “I’m the one who should be sorry.”

Before Jess had a chance to ask her what she meant by that, the doctor appeared, wanting to update the Gilmore family on the state of Richard’s health. It was a relief to everyone just to be told the guy was stable, though not knowing exactly what was wrong with him yet was not cool.

It had been kind of a fluke that Jess was even at the hospital. Luke had been on his way over to the Gilmore place to apologise to Lorelai, for what, Jess had no idea, but that’s what he said when he left. He arrived at the house right after the girls got the call about Richard and it was lucky he had. Lorelai was in no fit state to drive, so Luke had volunteered, stopping by home to let Jess know what was happening. It had been an instantaneous decision for him to come along to the hospital too. If Rory needed him, and the tears on her cheeks had told him she did, then he was there.

Of course, the dirty looks he was getting from Mrs Gilmore weren’t exactly fun, but Jess chose to not give her the satisfaction of reacting at all. He kept his focus on Rory as much as possible, and on Lorelai whenever his girlfriend had to slip away to the bathroom or something. As a plan, it was working for him, but there was no way for Jess to know how to make this situation better for either of the Gilmore girls.

“There’s no point in you all being here all night long,” said Emily then, voice full of ice and steel.

Jess might’ve been offended when he realised she was mostly looking at him, but to be fair, her husband had just had some sort of seizure or heart attack or whatever, so he was prepared to cut her some slack.

“We want to be here, Mom,” said Lorelai, sniffing hard and trying her best to keep her composure. “Dad would want us to be here.”

“Unfortunately, your father is in no fit state to even know we’re here at all right now,” her mother snapped. “You heard what the doctor said, Lorelai. They’re not going to know anything concrete for quite some time, so you may as well all go home and I will ensure you’re informed when there’s any news.”

With that, she got up and swept off down the hallway, disappearing into the ladies’ room before anyone could argue with her.

Luke sighed and turned a little in his seat to better face Lorelai.

“You wanna go, I’ll drive you,” he told her gently, “but if you wanna stay...”

“What’s the point?” she said, shaking her head. “They said he’s stable, and she doesn’t want us here. So long as we’re kept informed, and I do believe she’ll do that at least, I guess we should go. Rory?” she said then, turning from Luke to her daughter.

“I can’t go,” she told her, eyes on the scuffed linoleum in front of her. “I can’t.”

“Rory, please.” Lorelai sighed. “You heard what she said.”

“I don’t care,” Rory snapped, suddenly looking at Lorelai with fire in her blue eyes. “I can’t go,” she said definitely, even as another tear escaped down her cheek.

“I’ll stay with her,” said Jess without pause. “We can get a cab home later, I’ve got money,” he promised Lorelai with a half a smile.

Lorelai was too upset and too tired to fight anymore. She nodded and patted Jess on the arm.

“You’re a good kid,” she told him. “Thank you, Jess.”

“No problem,” he told her easily, watching as she got up to go.

Luke moved to follow then looked back at his nephew and Rory. “You need anything, you call me, okay?”

“We’ll be fine.” Jess nodded.

Lorelai passed through the doors with Luke on her heels. The second they were gone, Jess heard a strange sound and turned to find Rory doubled over in her seat, crying like her heart was breaking. She had been upset the whole time, tearful, painfully quiet, but she hadn’t really broken so completely until now. Jess pulled her into his arms without a moment’s pause and let her cry it all out into his shoulder. They were still that way when Emily came back.

“You’re still here,” she said acidly.

Jess didn’t flinch. “Yes, ma’am,” he told her politely. “Rory wanted to stay.”

Emily scoffed at that. “Wonderful. Now she wants to know us.”

Rory’s head came up from Jess’ shoulder so fast she nearly clocked him in the chin. She spun to face Emily with that same fiery stare that she had used on Lorelai. It wasn’t a look Jess ever wanted to be on the receiving end of. Heaven forbid he should ever do anything that justified such a glare.

“I’m not the one who screwed up in this family, _Grandma_ ,” she said with real venom.

Jess watched as the stately, composed Emily shrivelled a little at that particular term. He wondered if Rory had ever called her that before. Somehow, he doubted it.

“All four of you decided who I was going to be. All four of you gave yourself roles in my life and made everything I knew a lie, and then when I found out the truth at ten years old and couldn’t handle it, you decided to send me away to boarding school. You did that, so don’t sit there and act like it’s my fault that we don’t get along anymore, _Grandma_.”

“Stop calling me that!” Emily snapped at her. “And stop yelling like you were a common fishwife. You’re making fools of us all.”

“Oh, I’m sorry, does Miss Manners say no yelling in the hospital?” Rory countered. “Is she specific about behaviour depending on how sick your relative is? What exactly does she recommend when your grandfather, who you used to think was your father, suddenly collapses?”

She was getting really loud by then and even Jess was starting to feel uncomfortable as more and more attention was coming their way. He put a careful hand on Rory’s shoulder and tried to get her attention back.

“Hey, she’s not worth it,” he said quietly, though apparently Emily heard anyway.

“Oh, is that what you think, young man?” she asked him sharply. “I’m not worth it? Is this based on what Rory has told you herself, or are you just very quick to judge what you don’t understand?”

“I understand dysfunctional families better than you think, _ma’am_ ,” he said, so politely it almost physically hurt. “You see, I have one of my own. Fortunately, my uncle is just about the best parental figure I could have asked for. Seems like maybe Rory didn’t get quite so lucky.”

“What do you know of it?” Emily snapped. “My husband is a better man than you would never know how to be!”

“That I believe,” Jess told her easily. “Rory doesn’t say much about you two, but I know she cares a lot about your husband. She wouldn’t be here if she didn’t.”

“She knows I care,” Rory muttered. “She just doesn’t wanna believe it.”

She got up from her seat then and Jess did the same, even though he wasn’t sure where they were going. Just as they both turned towards the door, Emily spoke again.

“Perhaps I would believe you care a little more easily, Rory, if you proved it once in a while,” she said, causing Rory to turn back and look at her. “Your visits are so infrequent, it’s not as if we don’t understand why,” she said, glancing away almost guiltily for a moment, “but Richard misses you so much. He works longer hours to distract himself from missing you, I’m certain of it. Too much work, too much stress... it takes a toll.”

She turned away from Rory then, her hand to her face proving she was crying. Jess looked from one of them to the other and just felt sick. As much as he loved Rory, as much as he wanted to be only on her side, it was horrible to realise he could almost see Emily’s point of view. It was tough to be too mad at a woman in her current position. It was twice as hard to be mad at her husband.

“I have to get out of here,” said Rory in a strangled voice. “Jess, I-”

“We’re gone,” he promised, taking a tight hold of her hand and heading for the doors.

He had his cell in his free hand before they even hit the parking lot, dialling for a cab to take them home. Rory leaned close into his side, trying not to cry anymore and losing the fight. This really had been one hell of a crappy day.

* * *

In the cab, Rory had started insisting she didn’t actually want to go home. She couldn’t face Lorelai or Luke or anyone, she just couldn’t. Jess promised she didn’t have to do anything she didn’t want to do, then called his uncle to let him know what was going on. He spoke quietly, telling Luke that he and Rory left the hospital but that she needed some time. Luke said he would let Lorelai know and told Jess he didn’t need to remind him to take good care of Rory because he already knew he would.

They went to the bridge without even discussing it. It was just the place they always seemed to end up these days, in good times and bad. Today was definitely one of the bad days, but that was okay. Jess firmly believed there was nothing he and Rory couldn’t handle together and told her as much as they sat side by side in the dark with their arms around each other.

“You know, all that stuff that Emily said,” he told her, kissing the top of her head, “it’s all crap. You have nothing to feel bad about.”

“Yes, I do.” Rory sighed. “I know a lot of what happened is their fault, her and Richard, and Lorelai and Christopher, but some of it is on me too. I could’ve tried harder, Jess. When they tried, I should’ve too.”

She started crying again and it broke his heart to hear her sobbing. He held her tighter until she calmed down some, rubbing her back, planting kisses in her hair as he promised everything would be okay, even though he had no idea if he could keep his word.

At some point in the silent comfort that followed, Rory shifted in Jess’ embrace, frowning as her hand slipped inside his jacket and produced an object she clearly had not expected to find.

“Huh, I wonder how they got there.” he said innocently as she held the pack of cigarettes in her palm.

“Jess, please tell me I didn’t get you started on these?” Rory sighed. “I don’t need to feel guilty for anything else tonight.”

“Hey, sealed pack,” he said, showing her the plastic in the dawning light. “I don’t know why I got them exactly,” he explained, turning the pack over in his hands. “You remember I went into the store in Woodbridge a few days ago, when we went to see that movie?”

Rory nodded that she did recall.

“I just saw them there and I got some. Things have been every kind of stressful lately with school and Liz and... I don’t know.” He shrugged one more time before shoving them back in his inside pocket. “Works for you, right?”

“Sometimes.” Rory nodded. “Other things work better,” she admitted then, shifting in closer until his arm went naturally around her shoulders again.

It was another hour before Jess’ cell suddenly rang in his pocket and Luke told him to let Rory know Richard was going to be okay. Apparently, he had an anxiety attack, not a heart attack, and would be perfectly fine with the proper medication and probably some therapy. It was a relief in some ways, but Jess knew what Rory was thinking. He hated knowing that.

“Even if some of it is your fault, and I’m not saying it is,” he told her fast, “you don’t get to take all of the blame, Rory. It’s on them too. You believe me, don’t you?” he said, trying to meet her eyes even when she ducked away.

Taking in a deep breath and letting it out slow, she finally looked at him and nodded her head.

“I believe you,” she promised him. “Jess, I... You know how I feel about you, right?” she said shakily. “I mean, you do know?”

He smiled at her then, gently tucking her hair back behind her ear.

“Yeah, I know,” he said, leaning in to plant a sweet kiss on her lips. “You know I feel the same way about you, right?”

Rory swallowed hard and found him a watery smile. “I do.”

They wrapped their arms around each other then, holding on like their lives depended on it. Maybe it was weird that neither of them could get the actual words out, but given what they had both been through one way or another, maybe it wasn’t so strange, Jess thought. It didn’t matter. They both knew where they stood, now more than ever, that was the important thing.

“Come on,” he said then, pulling back. “I’ll take you home.”

Rory nodded her assent and they both got up to leave, walking towards her house with their arms around each other still. Sometimes, Jess was pretty sure he’d be okay with never letting go of Rory ever again. Right now was one of those times.


	32. Chapter 32

“You doing okay, sweets?” asked Lorelai as they emerged from the Gilmore Mansion side by side into a too-bright Sunday afternoon.

“Sure, I’m fine.” Rory nodded, putting on her best brave face.

Lorelai couldn’t have been more proud of her daughter when it came to handling herself in front of Emily. She had two different versions of what went down at the hospital after she left, both from Rory and from Jess, and didn’t like any of what she heard. Of course, she was in the same boat as the kids when it came to Emily. As mad as she would like to be at her, how could she be with what just happened to Richard?

It had been Rory’s idea to come visiting once her grandfather was home. She actively asked Lorelai if she wanted to go with her, and so they had come along together to check in on Richard and face the wrath of Emily as a united front.

The visit hadn’t gone too badly. Richard was glad to see them both and seemed to be all but back to his usual self and Emily actually did seem to be making an effort, so Rory and Lorelai responded in kind. It was still a relief to all when it was over.

“So, I personally think what we’ve just been through earns us a very lot of coffee and ice cream and cake,” said Lorelai definitely. “You in?”

“Oh, I am very in.” Rory nodded, even finding a smile as Lorelai’s arm wrapped around her and gave her a squeeze.

They drove back to Stars Hollow with the radio playing and no conversation at first. It was easier to avoid the subject of the Gilmore elders, for obvious reasons, but then the alternate topics of conversation weren’t exactly preferable either.

Rory hadn’t seen much of Jess for a couple of days now and wasn’t sure she would have anything to report if she had. Lorelai and Luke were a whole other thing, one that Rory almost felt she wanted to ask about but hadn’t as of yet. With no other topic of conversation coming to mind, she figured she may as well get it over with now.

“So, you and Luke. I mean, you said that wasn’t happening but then... well, at the hospital and everything...”

“I know.” Lorelai nodded, eyes fixed on the road as she carefully took the next bend. “It’s just complicated, sweets. I wish that it were simple, but it’s really not.”

“That’s relationships.” Rory sighed perhaps a little too heavily.

“You and Jess are okay, right?” her mother checked, glancing at her fast before putting her attention back on driving.

“We’re okay,” Rory agreed. “It’s just, like you said, never simple, always complicated. It still feels weird being a girlfriend, you know? I was never serious about a guy before Jess. I never thought I’d want to be.”

“Well, at least you’re not alone,” Lorelai considered. “I mean, he seems pretty serious about you too.”

“He does,” said Rory, smiling slightly. “He was so great the other night, at the hospital, and after. He just gets me. I don’t know how, I mean, we’re pretty different, but he just does.”

“Sounds good to me, babe,” Lorelai smiled too as she finally pulled the car onto the driveway and shut off the engine. “You know, I am really happy for you and for Jess. You guys are pretty great together.”

“Thanks. For what it’s worth, I think you and Luke could be too.”

“Thanks, kid. I hope you’re right. I hope someday we can figure it out, but not today, huh? Ice-cream, cake, coffee, coffee, coffee,” she said definitely.

Rory laughed and felt lighter for doing so. The last few days had been way too sad and stressful. What with Richard and Emily, plus how heavy things had got in her last real conversation with Jess. She loved knowing he was so willing to be there for her, that he cared so deeply and that she felt much the same. At the same time, it was kind of an intimidating and pressurised situation. She wasn’t sure she knew how to be around him anymore, much as she would like to.

For the rest of today at least, she didn’t plan to think about it much. If she and Lorelai could get lost in junk food, trashy movies, and a swimming pool’s worth of coffee, that was fine by Rory. Everything else could wait until tomorrow.

* * *

Luke had been up extraordinarily early, even for him, this particular Monday morning. He had plenty to do at the diner, things having been allowed to slide just a little the past few weeks when he was running around dealing with Liz and then being there for Lorelai and Rory. He had completed an inventory on Sunday and then gone in again early on Monday to finalise his deliveries and make sure everything was in order. At seven a.m. he came back to the house to ensure his nephew was up and at ‘em and ready for school.

“Jess?” he yelled as he came in through the front door, wondering why he was getting no answer as he moved through the hall towards the kitchen. “Jess, your ass better not still be in bed because I-”

He stopped on the threshold of the kitchen doorway, watching with surprise as his nephew came in through the back, looking just a little shifty.

“Where have you been?” asked Luke, folding his arms across his chest.

“Outside,” Jess told him honestly. “I needed air.”

Luke frowned. “You feeling okay?”

“I am now.” Jess nodded, barely looking at his uncle as he tried to slip by.

Luke let him go at first then called him to a halt before he got too far away.

“You smell smoke?” he asked, watching Jess carefully.

“Not really,” his nephew told him, shaking his head. “I need to go finish getting ready for school,” he said then, rushing to the stairs and up in a flash.

Luke watched him go, wondering if he should press the point or not. He had smelled smoke on Jess before this but always assumed it was Rory with the cigarettes rather than Jess himself. The kid was too smart to be doing something that dumb, at least, Luke liked to hope so. It was just unlikely that Jess and Rory were meeting up outback of the house before school like that, which led Luke to only one conclusion.

“Not today,” he muttered to himself, shaking his head.

There was already way too much on his mind to be getting into a fight with Jess over a misunderstanding. The chances were that he was not smoking, and even if he was, a couple of days before they had a fight over it would make little to no difference.

Luke concentrated on getting some breakfast made, since it seemed Jess hadn’t even made a start. By the time his nephew came back down the stairs, it was in a cloud of cologne or body spray or whatever the heck that overpowering smell was. All Luke knew for sure was that it was clearly designed to cover up the smoke he could smell before. He chose to stick to his original idea of letting it go for now. Another day would do just as well.

Before long, Jess was off to school and Luke headed back to the diner. The breakfast rush came in at the usual time, keeping his hands and his mind busy for a while. Just when things had gotten back down to a dull roar, the bell over the door rang. Luke took a moment to glance up and did a double-take when he realised who was there.

“Hi.”

“Hey.” Lorelai smiled as she approached the counter, looking almost nervous somehow.

“Coffee?” he offered, reaching for the pot.

“No, thanks.”

Luke looked up sharply, the pot clattering against the counter. “I’m sorry?”

Lorelai shook her head. “Oh, well, yeah, coffee,” she said awkwardly. “I don’t know why I said no, I just... I think we need to talk,” she said in a tone just barely above a whisper, eyes darting left and right.

“About Rory and Jess?” Luke checked as he poured her coffee and leaned closer over the counter.

“Well, no, that’s not... Do we need to talk about Rory and Jess?” asked Lorelai then, frowning some.

“No, I just thought that was what you were going to say.”

“Right. So, you don’t have anything you need to talk to me about? About Rory and Jess, I mean?”

“No,” Luke confirmed before changing his mind. “Well, one tiny thing. Does Rory smoke?”

“Of course not,” Lorelai replied immediately then seemed to reconsider. “Maybe. Not in the house and not that I can prove,” she admitted then, “but I wondered a couple of times. Why?”

“Nothing, no, it’s just I wondered if Jess was actually smoking,” Luke explained, “or if the smell of it was... you know, rubbing off.”

“Oh, right.” Lorelai nodded, taking a long drink from her coffee cup. “Well, not sure, but I can talk to Rory, if you want?”

“No, it’s fine. I’ll talk to Jess.” Luke nodded too, looking at Lorelai who was now glancing away.

A part of him almost wished the two of them had never talked about getting closer because now it was just so damn awkward all the time. The other part of him just wanted to take a hold of Lorelai and kiss her senseless, though of course he would never actually do it, he wouldn’t dare. Lately, it seemed like they couldn’t even talk to each other anymore, which reminded Luke that was exactly what Lorelai had said they needed to do when she walked in.

“I’m sorry, what did you want to talk about?” he asked, finally getting her attention back from her coffee - never an easy task.

“Doesn’t matter,” she said, waving away the question with her hand.

“Lorelai, come on,” he pressed, sure there had to be something, hoping there was, truth be told.

She nodded her agreement, finished off her coffee and then gestured towards the curtain that hid the stairs. Luke turned towards the kitchen and told Caesar to hold the fort before heading upstairs with Lorelai on his heels. They reached the office/storeroom, Luke holding the door open to let Lorelai through.

The moment he followed her inside, she seemed to be on him, pushing him back against the door until it closed behind him with a thud. Luke didn’t exactly mind too much, though it had come as a surprise to find Lorelai’s lips on his, her arms up around his neck as she kissed him. He wasted no time in kissing her back, pouring all the passion he felt for her into that moment. When they parted, she looked as shocked as he felt, though he doubted that could be true.

“Wow.”

“Yeah,” she agreed, suddenly smiling. “Luke, we talked about us being closer and then we just seemed to come up with so many excuses not to and... well, the truth is I still want to, and it seems like you still want to.”

“I do,” he confirmed immediately, not at all sorry to still have her so close.

“Then maybe it’s dumb to pretend that we don’t or we can’t,” Lorelai insisted. “Can’t we just do it? I mean, date,” she corrected herself the moment she saw his eyes widen and realised what she said. “I didn’t... Wow, that sounded a little strong.”

“I get it,” he promised, grinning back at her, “and yes, Lorelai,” he continued, reaching to tuck her hair back behind her ear, “I would love to take you out on a date.”

“Okay, good,” she said with something that sounded distinctly like a sigh of relief. “So, you wanna call me?”

“I will definitely call you,” Luke agreed, unable to resist the urge to pull her ever closer and take his chance at kissing her again.

They were caught up in another perfect moment for a minute or two when suddenly Lorelai’s cell started ringing loudly from her purse, forcing her to pull away.

“I’m sorry,” she said breathlessly. “It’s probably important.”

Luke nodded that he understood, though he was sorry to have her gone from his embrace. He stayed leaned back against the door while Lorelai scrambled for the phone, watching her frown when she saw who was calling. Things didn’t improve at all as Luke realised she was talking with someone at Chilton.

“Problems?” he checked the moment she was done.

“I have to go over to to the school for a meeting with Headmaster Charleston,” she said, huffing out a much less happy sigh than before as she shoved her cell back into her purse. “Surprise, surprise, once again, we’ve got trouble.”


	33. Chapter 33

“Well, that was a riot,” said Lorelai, completely deadpan, as she and Rory headed for the parking lot. “You know, of all the things I thought we were going to have a problem with, I did not think it was going to be your grades, kid.”

“Yeah, well,” Rory grumbled as they got into the car to leave. “Things have been... weird lately.”

“For all of us,” Lorelai agreed, “but Rory, come on. You’re smart. Super-smart, actually. You’ve been giving Jess a run for his money, and I know he’s the really brainy type. When you finally let me in on those PSAT scores, they were pretty darn impressive.”

“Even smart people can have off days. It happens,” Rory insisted arms folded across her chest and eyes fixed on the view from the passenger side window.

“Seatbelt,” Lorelai reminded her, watching until she was sure Rory had fastened it.

Of course, the folded arms and the pout were back the split second it was done and Lorelai was pretty sure she was not going to get much of a conversation out of her darling daughter. As much as they had started to connect over the past few months, and even felt much like mother and daughter at times, Lorelai was patently aware that there was so much about Rory she still didn’t know. She had no idea how to handle the difficult subjects with her either, especially anything that involved the Gilmore elders.

“I’m guessing some of the problem is you stressing over Richard,” she said quietly as she pulled out of the Chilton lot, though she got no answer. “I know that worrying about his health has led to _my_ work suffering. I don’t know how many times I messed up reservations or linen deliveries recently, so I do get it.”

“It’s not just about him,” Rory grumbled. “It’s a lot of things, it’s... People just get stressed, okay? And distracted, and... and it just happens.”

Lorelai wasn’t sure what she was supposed to take from any of that. She was agreeing already that everybody did indeed get stressed out and distracted, that was precisely what she just admitted of herself, but none of this was explaining a sudden slide in Rory’s grades.

A couple of missed homework assignments, a strangely low score on a random test, that could all be pushed aside as the results of stressing over Richard, but this was different. This was a general decline over the course of a month. There had to be more to it than one stressful event.

“Is it Jess?” asked Lorelai eventually, getting Rory’s full attention in a heartbeat.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, is Jess the reason you’re falling behind in school? You spend a lot of time together, is it time you should be studying?”

“Don’t you think his grades would be sliding too if that’s what it was?” asked Rory with a look before putting her gaze back on the view from the passenger window.

“Hey, for all I know, that’s exactly what’s happening,” Lorelai countered. “Headmaster Charleston is not going to tell me about other students grades or behaviour. I’m only responsible for you.”

Rory scoffed at that, though Lorelai wasn’t quite clear on which part caused that reaction. She might have asked if she had been given the opportunity.

“Jess is not a distraction for me,” said Rory snippily. “I can date _and_ pass my classes. Like you said, I’m smart enough.”

“Yes, you are,” her mother agreed easily. “Which I guess is why I’m so confused here. You were doing so well. Even when you weren’t so happy to be living in Stars Hollow or with me, you still did your homework and passed your classes, but now-”

“Now, maybe I’m bored of trying,” Rory cut in. “Maybe I just don’t see the point, okay?”

Lorelai sighed, concentrating only on her driving for a little while. She really did not know what she was supposed to say anymore. Rory was smart enough to do well in school, Richard was over the worst of his health crisis, and apparently dating and passing classes at the same time wasn’t a problem either. That left Lorelai with no more options, no more ideas of what was going on, and it seemed pretty clear that Rory wasn’t sharing, no matter how hard she pressed her.

“You’re really not going to talk to me about this, are you?”

“There’s nothing to talk about,” Rory muttered. “Even if there was, do you tell me every single thing about your life?”

“Actually, pretty much, yeah.” Lorelai nodded, checking the light before she pulled through the next intersection. “Before the phone call from Chilton that blew a hole in my good mood, I was actually looking forward to telling you some good news today,” she said carefully, mindful of putting Rory in an even worse mood, though she doubted right now if that were even possible. “I talked to Luke. We decided to make this whole dating thing happen. Seems pretty stupid to keep denying what’s there.”

She didn’t glance at Rory at all, though she sensed her daughter turning to look at her after a moment.

“That’s cool” she said eventually.

“It is?”

“Sure. I thought you were together from the start, so it’s probably time that you actually made it happen.”

“I think so.”

Silence reigned then as Rory went back to staring out of the window and Lorelai focused on driving them home. It was nice for Lorelai to know that Rory was at least a little bit happy for her and Luke in their blossoming new relationship, but none of this solved the problem of what was going on in Rory’s head. Lorelai had opened up in the hopes her daughter would do the same. No go, apparently.

“So, this whole school thing,” she said after a while. “What are we gonna do about that?”

Rory shrugged. “I don’t know. I guess I catch up or they kick me out?”

“Sounds like a fair assessment to me, kid.” Lorelai nodded. “You know, it may not seem like it right now, but education is so important. I missed a bunch when I was pregnant with you and it was really tough to catch up, but I did it. I buckled down and did my best, got into college...”

As Lorelai continued talking on and on, Rory closed her eyes and leant her forehead against the glass of the passenger window, willing it all away. She didn’t want to go to college, she couldn’t care less about all this education crap. Lorelai was never going to understand that, any more than the teachers at Chilton who were always telling her what a bright future she could have, going to an Ivy League college and all. That wasn’t what Rory wanted her life to be, it had seemed easier just to let her grades slide until she wasn’t qualified for that future, but her easy way out was proving tougher than she thought. It seemed she would have to find another way.

* * *

Though Rory had asked Jess to meet her on the bridge to talk, from pretty much the moment he got there, she had started kissing him and barely let up since. Not that he was complaining at all, but it did seem like she was avoiding the subject of Headmaster Charleston calling Lorelai into school. After a while, he just had to ask her what was going on.

“Not that this isn’t great,” he said, pulling away from her, “because you know it is,” he said, smiling as he pushed her hair back from her face, “but I thought you were gonna tell me what happened at school.”

“Nothing,” Rory huffed, turning her face away. “Just... apparently, my grades aren’t up to the Chilton standard.”

“That’s crazy.” Jess shook his head. “You’re one of the smartest people in that school. You can run rings around me when you try.”

“Then I guess maybe it’s because I haven’t been trying all that hard,” Rory told him sharply. “Does it matter?” she asked then, turning to look at him again. “If I dropped out of school tomorrow, would it make a difference?”

“Rory, you can’t just throw away your education to-”

“I’m not talking about my education, Jess,” she told him crossly. “I’m talking about you and me. If I was a drop-out, would it mean that you... that you didn’t care about me anymore?”

“Of course, not,” he promised her, meeting her eyes. “Rory, come on, nothing could do that. Nothing is ever going to stop me from feeling this way about you.”

There was a part of Rory which wanted to tell him he was wrong, that he was so stupid for caring that much and believing he always would. It was a small, ugly part of her that she didn’t like much, but it was always there. The little piece that never quite felt worthy of whatever it was Jess felt for her. The rest of her was elated to hear him being so sweet, to know somehow that he did in fact mean every word he said.

“What?” he asked when she had been staring at him too long without saying a word.

“Nothing,” she said, shaking her head slightly and looking away. “Uh, so Lorelai says she and Luke are actually, finally doing the dating thing. That’s cool.”

“Yeah, he told me the same. I guess if they’re happy, I’m happy,” he agreed, “but that’s not what we’re supposed to be talking about. Rory, come on,” he urged her, bumping her shoulder slightly with his. “You don’t really wanna drop out of school, do you? I mean, I know you’re not sold on the whole college idea, but at least if you got through school... well, if you changed your mind, you’d have options, and even if you never change your mind,” he added fast when he realised she was about to protest, “it’s never a bad thing to have your diploma.”

Rory knew he had a point. It was rare for Jess not to have one and he always made them too well. She sighed heavily, letting her head drop onto his shoulder. None of this was his fault and he was only trying to be a good guy, as always.

“Lorelai was talking about getting me a tutor,” she told him. “She knows I don’t really need one, but I think she thinks if she pays somebody to sit there and rant at me, I might actually achieve something. That or Headmaster Charleston told her, ‘Get a tutor or face the firing squad.’”

Jess smirked at her phrasing before he answered. “You need a tutor, I could do it.”

“Seriously?” Rory asked, her head coming up from his shoulder fast as she stared at him agog.

“Sure, why not?” He shrugged. “Come on, Headmaster Charleston cannot say I’m not qualified to help other students get up to snuff. I actually have done it before, and Luke and Lorelai will be cool with it, I’ll make sure they are.”

“You’re serious about this,” Rory realised, amused by the very thought of it.

“Deadly,” Jess assured her, nodding his head. “Look, you have to get your grades up because you slipped behind. I have all the information you need, we spend so much together anyway, how hard is it going to be for the two of us to get you back where you need to be? Even if it’s just to keep the school off Lorelai’s back, wouldn’t it be worth it?”

Rory stared at him a moment more and then couldn’t resist a second longer, leaning in to plant a kiss on his lips.

“You really are kind of amazing,” she told him, a little in awe of the fact apparently.

“Not really,” Jess assured her, meeting her eyes. “I just... I love you, Rory,” he told her, hearing her gasp at the admission but pressing on regardless. “If it wasn’t already really obvious, I do, I love you.”

She didn’t say it back. He hadn’t really expected her to. Honestly, Jess was only grateful she wasn’t running for her life. Instead she kissed him again, encouraging his arms around her as they laid down on the bridge and got lost in each other for a while. They had gotten close so many times before, but somehow, this felt different, significant. It was something about the way she kissed him, the way she held onto him. Maybe she hadn’t said the words out loud and maybe she never would, but Jess knew. Surely, Rory had to love him too.


	34. Chapter 34

“As much as I would love to think the only thing you’re nervous about right now is screwing up with wonderful, fabulous me on this, our amazing first date,” said Lorelai, smiling across the table at Luke, “why do I get the feeling it’s more Jess-and-Rory related?”

Luke looked guilty at being caught and heaved a sigh, dumping his menu down on the table at the same time.

“I’m sorry,” he apologised immediately. “This is a big night for us and I am happy to be here, more than happy,” he promised Lorelai, reaching to squeeze her hand. “It’s just... I can’t help thinking we didn’t make the best choice letting Jess play tutor for Rory.”

Lorelai meant to tell him he was worrying for nothing. She wished that she could, but unfortunately, she knew better. Leaving Rory and Jess alone in the Danes’ house to study was doubtless going to result in a minimal amount of book learning and a whole lot of getting it on, but at the end of the day, she didn’t really see how they could stop it anyway.

“You really don’t think it was a bad idea?” Luke checked when Lorelai failed to give an opinion. “I mean, I know Jess is smart enough to tutor other kids, he has done it before, and Rory is definitely smart enough to get caught up with help,” he said without pause, “but the two of them? They’re very... well, the one about rabbits springs to mind.”

“I’m actually pretty sure that hasn’t happened yet, if it helps at all,” Lorelai assured him. “And I’m not saying it won’t, but it also doesn’t mean they won’t study too. Rory gave me her word she would try and I trust her.”

“I’m not saying you shouldn’t,” Luke promised, seeing how this could easily turn into a fight if they weren’t careful, something he really didn’t want, tonight of all nights. “It’s just, tutor-wise, wouldn’t Rory be better off with a someone that has more experience? You know, a professional. Somebody with a degree and a pipe and one of those coats with the elbow patches on it?”

“Come on, Luke.” Lorelai snickered. “Rory is never going to pay attention to a guy like that. She needs someone she’ll listen to, that she likes and respects. That’s not some stuffy tutor guy, that’s Jess. You know, I actually think he is a big part of the reason that she’s settled into the Hollow so well, and why she was doing pretty well at Chilton for a while there. He’s helping her so much, and I know it’s probably selfish of me to want them to be together for those reasons, but they seem happy too, right?”

Luke sighed. “I guess so,” he admitted.

“And Jess is doing okay, no suffering grades, no bad behaviour?” Lorelai watched Luke’s reaction to her question, wondering why he was suddenly very interested in his menu again and not looking at her at all. “Luke?” she prompted, trying to meet his eyes.

Another sigh and then he gave in. “Nothing major, except... well, the smoking thing,” he admitted. “I swear he has started smoking cigarettes and I’m sorry but he was not doing that before Rory came along. You said yourself, you thought she was doing it.”

“Sometimes. Maybe,” Lorelai admitted, shifting awkwardly in her seat. “I know, I know, I should’ve asked her about it, and it’s not cool, but with the whole Chilton studying thing and what happened with my dad, I just... one more thing in the negative column was just one thing too many. I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine,” Luke assured her, not really wanting her to feel bad. “I had the same thing. I wanted to talk to Jess about it but I knew it’d just lead to a fight and... I don’t know, maybe now they’re getting older we have to start letting them make some of their own mistakes?” he said, shrugging his shoulders. “Geez, it does not come easy.”

“Amen,” Lorelai agreed, reaching for his hand across the table again. “We will deal with the smoking thing, I promise. As for tonight, well, Rory and Jess are studying.” Luke gave her a look and Lorelai shook her head. “No, never mind what else they’re doing. If they’re... doing that,” she said awkwardly, “then it’s because they care about each other and they both want to, plus we know they’re in a decent place and they’re being super-safe, okay?”

“Yeah, I guess,” Luke agreed, even though he didn’t look thrilled about it, probably because he didn’t exactly feel thrilled, but he knew Lorelai had a point. “We should just stop talking about the kids. As much as they’re important, this night was supposed to be about you and me.”

“Yes, it was. It is,” Lorelai confirmed, squeezing his hand. “So, romance me, damn it,” she told him with a grin.

Luke smiled right back at her. “That I can do.”

* * *

“Done,” said Rory, pushing her notepad across the table to Jess.

She tried not to smile as she watched him read all that she had written, but it proved tough, especially when she saw the look on his face.

“Huh. I had no idea William Shakespeare wrote ‘Guns of Brixton’,” he said, smirking at her then.

“Well, he was ahead of his time,” Rory told him, completely deadpan. “I’m sorry, I just can’t do any more of this stuff right now,” she said, leaning back in her seat and tossing her pen on the table.

“You like English.”

“I do, but we’ve already done so much tonight and... well, I’m a little distracted, I guess.”

“What’s so distracting?” asked Jess, apparently serious in his question as he shifted books around on the table.

“Are you kidding?” Rory checked, staring at Jess until he looked at her again.

She had trouble believing that he didn’t know how she felt about him. Sure, he was the one who said that he loved her and she hadn’t actually said it back, but Rory was sure Jess at least knew that she cared. He certainly couldn’t be in any doubt about how much she wanted him.

They had been skirting around the sex issue for weeks now. Once Rory knew Jess hadn’t ever, she tried not to be quite so full on about it. They got precious little serious alone time together as it was. When they did, second base gave way to third once in a while, but Jess always pulled away first. Rory tried to remember that it wasn’t her he was trying to get away from, just the situation. She ought to be flattered that she made him so nervous, but she knew that wasn’t really it either, at least, she was pretty sure it wasn’t.

When he leaned in, his hand slipping behind her head, Rory was happy to fall into the moment. It was just a kiss, at least to begin with, then Jess pulled her closer and Rory let the momentum take her. Maybe if she let him be a little more in control of it all, it would just happen. She knew she had a tendency to be pushy sometimes, but she was trying not to, she just wanted to be close to him, to show him what she struggled so much to put into words.

On Jess’ side of things, he was sort of hoping that if he just went with what he was feeling right now everything would be fine. It should be. After all, he loved Rory and though she never told him she felt the same, he knew she had to feel it. He wanted her, so much that it hurt, and yet every time they got to a point where something major might have happened, he couldn’t help but think about all the guys that came before him. It shouldn’t bother him, he didn’t want it to, and yet it did, every time.

The moment Rory shifted from her chair and put herself in his lap, he felt the panic build up in his chest. It was a miracle Jess didn’t throw her on the floor, he got up so fast.

“What?” she asked, looking momentarily stunned.

“Coffee,” he said, sliding past her towards the kitchen. “We need coffee.”

“Jess!” she called behind him, but he didn’t even pause.

She could follow him but he hoped she wouldn’t. Jess switched on the coffee pot the moment he got into the kitchen and closed the door behind him. Then he opened up the back door leading out onto the porch and grabbed the pack of cigarettes and lighter he had hidden in the pot plant out there.

Standing in the open doorway, he lit a cigarette, took a long drag and blew smoke into the darkening sky. It was a dumb habit, he never should’ve started it. He couldn’t really blame Rory for getting him into it, though he supposed she had been the catalyst. She was the reason he kept on stressing out so much, though that part definitely wasn’t her fault. She had no idea exactly what she did to him.

“Huh,” she said then, startling him into turning around. “Most people do that after,” she said, making a vague gesture towards the cigarette in his hand.

Jess pinched the bridge of his nose with his free hand, laughter escaping his lips, though there was no humour in it. He missed Rory moving closer, only noticing her when she was right at his side, reaching to take the cigarette from between his fingers.

“You wanna tell me what’s wrong?” she asked, taking a hit.

“No,” he told her straight, “but I highly doubt I have a choice,” he said, looking out at the back yard rather than at Rory. “I swear I should just get myself committed already.”

“You think you’re losing your mind?” she asked, standing in front of him in the doorway, close as she had ever been in the too-small gap.

“Over you? Every day,” he told her honestly. “Rory, it’s not that I don’t... that I don’t want you. You know that, right? I mean, for starters, look at you, plus seventeen year old guy, it kinda comes with the territory anyway.”

“Okay.” Rory nodded, looking just vaguely amused for a moment as she handed his cigarette back to him. “So, why the stress smoking?”

“Because... it’s weirdly stressful,” he admitted, inhaling and exhaling another puff of smoke. “I just... I feel stupid, okay? I feel like... like whatever I do is just gonna be wrong and-”

“Jess,” she cut in, her hands holding his head so he had to look at her. “Stop thinking so much,” she urged him. “That’s not what this is about. You don’t think what is between you and me scares me half to death too? It absolutely does,” she admitted.

“This part can’t bother you,” he reminded her, not willing to mention the line-up of previous partners she had that haunted him despite the fact he never met any of them... well, except one, and he really didn’t want to think about that right now. “Putting this as politely as I know how, you have a not-small amount of experience here.”

“Jess, just... don’t think about anybody else,” she told him, getting closer, even though it seemed impossible that she could. “I promise you, I’m not.”

Then she kissed him and the world started falling away like it usually did in those kinds of moments. Jess let his arms wrap around her as they continued to kiss. It felt the same and yet different somehow. He couldn’t have explained it if he tried, but something told him that maybe this time they wouldn’t be stopping part way into the journey.

They went stumbling out of the kitchen and down the hall, Rory’s back hitting the living room door. She seemed to be trying to work the handle behind her to let them in but Jess pulled her away and was glad when she let him. When they hit the bottom of the stairs, it was her that pulled back, just for a second and met his eyes.

“Come on,” he said, pulling on her hand, glad to see her smile before she happily followed.

* * *

“Well, I think we can mark that a successful first date.” Lorelai smiled as Luke pulled the truck onto the drive way at the Crap Shack and threw it in park.

“It was not bad,” he agreed, smiling himself as he turned to look at her. “Seriously, Lorelai, this was... I can’t believe we waited so long to do this.”

“Me either,” she said, shaking her head. “But hey, we’re here now, we finally stopped being blind about what was right in front of us.”

“For the record, I’m pretty sure I knew from the first day we met just exactly what was in front of me,” Luke told her then, “I was just too dumb to do anything about it.”

She looked a little surprised by that, though Luke wondered how she could be. Maybe he really had been way too subtle with how he felt about her, but then he had so easily convinced himself she could never feel the same. She certainly proved that was untrue now when she leaned across the gear shift and planted a kiss on his lips.

“I had a really great time tonight, Luke. Thank you.”

“Yeah, me too,” he said, his hand at her cheek, taking his turn at initiating a kiss, though somehow it didn’t seem to last long enough.

When Lorelai pulled away, it was some comfort to Luke to see she looked almost as disappointed as he felt.

“I guess I should go inside, see if Rory’s home,” she said with a sigh.

“Yeah, and I guess I should go home and send her back here if she’s not,” Luke said, smiling slightly at the semi-joke.

“Goodnight, Luke,” said Lorelai then, slipping out of the car.

“Goodnight, Lorelai,” he replied in kind, watching her head on up the steps, raising a hand when she did the same, before she finally opened the door and went inside.

Luke pulled a breath through his lungs and shook himself out of the haze of a fool in love. Putting the truck into gear, he pulled off the drive way and headed for home, still grinning like an idiot.

As first dates went, he and Lorelai really had had a pretty good one, and he hoped many more would follow. It hadn’t even occurred to him to worry about Jess and Rory, not after the first few minutes anyway.

Of course, all the panic came rushing back to him when he got within a block of his house and saw the fire truck and the ambulance parked up right outside his front door.

“Oh my... What the hell is going on?”


	35. Chapter 35

It was so weird how quickly Lorelai had gotten used to having Rory around the house, to be without her now was so lonely and strange. It had been more than a week, ten days to be exact, since she was last there. Hugging her coffee mug with both hands, Lorelai closed her eyes and replayed that horrible night over again. She didn’t want to, but somehow, several times a day, she just couldn’t help herself.

It hadn’t come as a huge shock when she came into the house after her date with Luke and found Rory wasn’t home yet. After all, he had made his little joke about sending her home if she was still at his house with Jess, they both must’ve known that would be the case. Lorelai had kicked off her shoes, turned on the machine for one last coffee before bed and contemplated what a great night she’d had with Luke. It wasn’t long before the rapping on the door started up and she frowned as she moved to see who was there.

“Hey, sugar,” Babette had been smiling when she said it and yet the expression was clearly forced. “Now, I don’t wanna panic you or nothin’ but Maury just got back from his late walk a minute ago, and he was talkin’ about fire trucks and the police and an ambulance. Said they were all right there outside of the Danes place...”

Lorelai remembered very little from the moment she heard those words up until she was standing outside of Luke and Jess’ house, fighting her way between neighbours and other onlookers, trying desperately to find out what happened. It was such a relief to run straight to Luke and be told that nobody was dead, though Jess had sustained an injury, that much she could see.

It was weird how much younger the poor kid looked, sat at the back of the ambulance with an EMT attending to his arm. She didn’t see much and was glad not to when she heard talk of second-degree burns, but it was clear something very bad had occurred.

“Where’s Rory?” she asked, maybe once, maybe ten times, before anyone answered her.

Even now Lorelai couldn’t remember that part clearly. The hysterics started in pretty fast when she realised that if Jess was injured, probably her baby girl was too. It was the poor kid himself that promised she was okay.

“She was nowhere near the fire. I told her to get out and she did. She’s fine,” Jess promised.

“Then where is she?” Lorelai repeated desperately.

Jess shook his head, wincing horribly as his arm was tended to some more. “I honestly don’t know for sure, but if I had to guess? The bridge over the lake.”

Lorelai had turned and run back to her car, squealing the tyres as she headed off at speed to find Rory. She was vaguely aware of Luke yelling after her, but she didn’t stop, she couldn’t.

Jess had been right. Rory was at the bridge, sat right in the middle, her legs dangling over the still water of the lake, arms hugging herself as she stared at nothing. Lorelai rushed to her, sank down to her knees and hugged her daughter so tight. She didn’t care if Rory tried to protest it, though perhaps the real surprise was that she didn’t. Of course, it was more of a shock when Lorelai finally pulled back enough to check her over and ask if she really was truly okay, only to find tears streaming down Rory’s face.

“I’m such an idiot,” she cried helplessly. “He’s hurt because of me.”

Lorelai had taken her daughter back into her arms then and tried to give her any comfort she could. She was still in the dark over what exactly had happened, though clearly there had been some kind of fire that caused Jess’ burns. Lorelai trusted that eventually Rory would have the voice to tell her everything, and after a while, she did.

“I don’t even really know how it happened,” she admitted, sniffling and hiccupping still, her head on Lorelai’s shoulder as her mother stroked her hair over and over. “I guess in the moment, I just wasn’t thinking about the cigarette, or maybe I thought Jess put it out already, I don’t know, but it has to have been that. He must’ve dropped it when we were...”

“When you were... kissing?” Lorelai guessed, feeling Rory nod against her shoulder.

“He was feeling... insecure, I guess,” she went onto explain. “I know what you’ve been thinking, but me and Jess, we never... but tonight, we almost.”

Lorelai wasn’t sure she ever heard Rory be so coy in talking about anything, including sex, but then she supposed the one thing in the kid’s life that mattered most to her was her relationship with Jess. Bad things had happened in that area tonight.

“Okay,” Lorelai had said, calmly as she could. “So, he dropped a cigarette when you were... almost,” she went on, diplomatically as possible. “And that started a fire?”

“It had to be that,” Rory admitted, “but we weren’t there to realise. We were headed upstairs. We barely made it to Jess’ room when the smoke detector went off. It was so loud, I wasn’t sure what it was at first, but Jess seemed to know. He just flew down the stairs and by the time I caught up to him...” She stopped, a strange noise emitting from her throat like a strangled sob as she presumably relived the moment. “The curtains around the kitchen window had caught on fire and a bunch of other stuff, it was awful. I think I screamed and then Jess was yelling for me to get out, to run. I wanted him to come with me, but he wouldn’t. I tried to tell him we should both go, but he was getting a fire extinguisher. He said he could handle it. I just stood in the hall, part of me wanting to run, part of me wanting to help him, then I heard him yell, like he was in pain.”

“When he got burned,” Lorelai realised, her eyes falling shut as she pulled Rory tighter to her and rocked her like a much younger child than she was while she cried some more. “Oh, babe, that must’ve been so awful,” she sympathised, “but you should know that Jess is okay. The ambulance people are taking real good care of him, and yeah, he has a pretty nasty-looking burn on his arm, but it’s treatable. He will be fine,” she promised.

“I stayed until they came, the ambulance and the fire truck, but I just... I felt so awful. Seeing Jess in pain and knowing I caused it.”

“Rory, no,” Lorelai insisted, pulling back to meet her daughter’s eyes. “You did _not_ cause this. It was an accident, a stupid, dumb accident. Besides, you didn’t put the cigarette in Jess’ hand.”

When she looked away guiltily, Lorelai had a flashback to when Luke had talked to her, more than once, about Jess maybe smoking, and how he suspected his nephew picked up that particular bad habit from Rory. She had always known it was likely to be true, but hearing the truth of it in that moment hadn’t made her feel great at all.

“I did,” Rory confessed. “Not tonight, but before. Well, I didn’t put it in his hand, he took it for himself, from my hand,” she explained. “Right here, actually. Sitting in this spot,” she said, shaking her head. “I swear, I was not trying to get him hooked. Last time we talked about it, I told him he shouldn’t. I didn’t know that he was doing it, not until tonight, and then... It _is_ all my fault.”

Remembering it all now, Lorelai could still hear the sobbing Rory had done, hear the strain in her voice as she explained it all. It was heart-wrenching and just awful. Lorelai hadn’t known then that things could get any worse.

The phone ringing in the hall snapped Lorelai out of her daze and she leapt up to answer it, hoping rather than believing it might be Rory. She tried her best not to sound disappointed when she realised it was Luke.

“I just wanted to let you know about Jess’ doctor appointment,” he explained. “You asked me to, so-”

“Yes, I did,” Lorelai cut in. “I want to know. How’s he doing?”

“His arm is healing. Doctor says everything’s going well, it just takes time for all the skin to heal up and everything, but he should be fine, no complications or infections or anything.”

“That’s good.”

“Yeah.”

The conversation came to a grinding halt then. It happened every time they talked since that night. Lorelai half-expected Luke to be mad about what happened, mad at Rory, maybe even mad at her by proxy. He wasn’t really. He wasn’t exactly thrilled about Rory being involved in Jess starting to smoke, or being one of the people that inadvertently caused a fire in the kitchen of his home, but he wasn’t angry, he didn’t seem to want to apportion blame. Still, it was no surprise to Lorelai that things were stilted between them. Just when they were starting to get closer, this whole incident had really forced a wedge between them again.

“So, you heard from Rory at all?” Luke asked then.

Lorelai smiled at his thoughtfulness, even in the face of every shade of awkward and bad. “A couple of days ago, yeah,” she said softly. “She’s okay.”

“Good,” Luke replied, just as quiet somehow. “Um, so, I should go. Diner to run, you know how it is.”

“I know,” Lorelai agreed, the call ending seconds later with no words of affection, no talk of future dates or anything like that.

Lorelai looked down at the phone in her hand, thumb hovering over the keys that would dial her daughter’s cell. She thought about it, maybe a little too long, and then she dialled.

The line rang once, twice, three times, and then went to voicemail.

Lorelai hung up the phone.

* * *

Jess never usually had his cell switched on when he was in school. If he got caught, he knew what kind of trouble he would be in, but he couldn’t care right now. After all, with the injury he was sporting and all the sympathy it was garnering from teachers lately, he knew he could probably make some excuse and get away with it. The truth was, he was waiting on a call from Rory, a call he was starting to think might never come, until suddenly today, seconds after the bell signalled it was time for Jess to go to lunch when, finally, he felt the vibrating of the phone in his pocket.

“Rory?” he checked the moment he had slipped under the stairway where no-one was likely to notice him.

“Hi, Jess,” she replied, but said no more.

“You have no idea how long I’ve been waiting for you to call,” he told her, keeping his voice down and hoping the noise in the hall would be enough to drown out the rest for a while. “You just took off. You didn’t even say goodbye. I’ve been leaving you messages for over a week.”

“How’s your arm?” she asked, almost as if she hadn’t even heard all that he said to her, but she must have done, he knew.

“It’s fine, or it will be,” he amended, looking down at his sleeve that covered the bandages. “It barely even hurts, it’s not a big deal. You do know none of this is your fault, right? I mean, I’m not blaming you. Luke isn’t either, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

Rory scoffed on her end of the line, a painful sound in his ear. “I’m better off here, Jess,” she told him. “It’s... it’s just better, for everybody.”

“So, that’s it,” he challenged. “You’re just gonna stay there forever and never come back?”

There was silence for a beat or two before Rory finally replied. “I don’t know,” she admitted. “I just... I should go,” she said then. “Now I know you’re okay, I should-”

“Rory, please...” It was as far as Jess got before he realised she already hung up. “Damnit!” he cursed, kicking the wall as he emerged from his hiding place.

“So, I’m guessing that was the estranged girlfriend?” said Paris, smirking terribly.

It was as if she had been laying in wait for the moment Jess emerged. For all he knew, she had realised he was taking a call, guessed it was Rory, and followed him. Paris wasn’t much for gossip, but she liked to keep tabs on those who might challenge her for the top spot in their class. That meant Jess was of interest to her, and Rory too, to a degree.

“Now is not the time, Geller,” he told her crossly, moving to pass by.

“She still has a file here,” she told his retreating back, forcing Jess to turn around and face her again. “I have connections in the administration office. Gilmore’s file is still in that cabinet, which means, technically, she’s still enrolled.”

“You wanna make a point, Paris?” Jess asked her, arms folded across his chest.

“Pretty sure I just made it, Danes,” she countered. “Your girlfriend went to see her father, people do that sometimes, but she’ll be back. Unless there’s more to it than that.”

Jess just shook his head and turned to walk away, not bothering to look back this time when Paris called after him. She knew nothing, she didn’t want to be helpful either. Sure, they had been more friendly than before lately, but they were not close. Paris Geller was out for information. She liked to know her enemy, and academically, that was what Jess and Rory both were to her still. That didn’t mean that what she said didn’t strike a nerve in Jess.

As far as the school were concerned, or at least the students, Rory had indeed gone to stay with her father for a while, it was the ‘why’ that they were missing, and Jess wasn’t about to tell anyone about the fire or anything else that happened that night. Most people didn’t even know about his injury and Jess liked it that way. It wasn’t that big of a deal anyway, like he told Rory, it barely even hurt. The real pain was on the inside, the hole in Jess’ heart since his girlfriend left town without even telling him where she was going.

It was the next day, when he went over to the Crap Shack, that Lorelai had to tell him the news. 

“She just felt like being here was too hard,” she said sadly. “Apparently, she’s been in touch with Christopher for a while now, not that I knew anything about that.”

She sounded so bitter and hurt by that fact, Jess couldn’t bear to admit that Rory had told him that she talked to her dad sometimes. It didn’t seem worth making things any worse than they already were.

So, that was that. Rory was in Boston and nobody knew when she would be back. Jess called her, text her, a hundred times each, or maybe it just felt like that many, it probably wasn’t in reality. All Jess knew was that Rory was all he could think about most of the time. He needed to see her, to tell her again that none of this was her fault, to make sure she knew that he still loved her, that he needed her too.

Halfway down the hall towards the cafeteria, Jess stopped walking.

“Seriously, Paris?” he said, turning to glare at her. “What, you wanna be my shadow now or something?” he checked.

“You should be nicer to me,” she said pointedly, holding up a piece of paper in her hand. “In this life, what you know is worth plenty, but _who_ you know is always worth more,” she told him as she walked by him, slapping the folded page against his chest.

Jess caught hold of the paper and unfolded it quickly, eyes widening when he saw what was written on it. He looked towards the cafeteria just in time to see Paris’ back disappearing through the doors. Maybe she wasn’t so bad after all.


End file.
